Naruto Mondaitachi Revised
by Himeko Megurine
Summary: Please note that the following major changes: - Naruto's appearance changed - Asuka is stricter and harsher - Izayoi and Naruto's relationship is more fighting buddies than good friends - Kuro Usagi's curiosity is less focused on Naruto and more on the group overall. - Between Izayoi and Naruto, only one letter was delivered instead of 2. Naruto Hiraishin'd to Izayoi's location.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and Mondaiji.**

**And thanks to my awesome beta reader Tama Saga**

It has been 9000 years since the war against one Uchiha Madara along with his companion the Juubi had transpired.

The shinobi who were fighting against those two monsters gave everything they got, whether they be killed or not it does not matter anymore to them, for them it is better to die rather than become a mindless puppets who doesn't have their own freedom, so they fought and fought but all of it was for naught for their foe was simply too strong even with their combined forces. The might of the legendary shinobi and his companion the ten tail beast was not something to be trifled with. It was like trying to push a boulder up a mountain with only your feet. All was lost and every shinobi and civilians in the whole elemental nations were on the verge of giving up. Then he returned, their hero.

Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, the hero whom disappeared when he fought against his rival Uchiha Sasuke, he disappeared when the Uchiha used the last of his strength to try and kill the Namikaze using his Kamui. It was a mystery, what he was up to while he was gone, but all that mattered right now is that he came back, and so, the battle against the Namikaze and Uchiha began.

It was one long and gruesome battle but, with the assistance of the others, Naruto managed to land a fatal blow when he bypassed the Uchiha's intangibility cheat and managed a solid hit with a _Rasenshuriken_. The Uchiha had one last moment to scream before he was torn apart.

That left only one. Without Madara to control it with the Sharingan, the Juubi was free to indiscriminately rampage. Naruto valiantly tried to fight against the ten-tail beast, but he was simply too tired. He knew that he wouldn't last much longer, so with one last gamble he made the greatest sacrifice of his life.

His gamble succeeded and he managed to seal the ten-tailed beast's power into himself. Without its power, the Juubi's body found itself unable to defend against Naruto's most powerful technique, the Bijuudama Rasenshuriken.

The Bijuudama Rasenshuriken was a technique that Kurama and Naruto had created together before Kurama gave his life in an attempt to prevent the return of the Juubi. With this technique and the stolen power of the Juubi backing it, the remnants of the monster were annihilated and peace finally descended on the land.

However, even though he brought peace to the shinobi world, Naruto was not allowed to return. He was too powerful. With the Juubi's power inside of him, he could easily tip the balance of power and shatter the fragile peace. Gaara, representing the other villages, reluctantly pointed this out and requested that Naruto make no moves to ally with any villages. With a heavy heart and a desire to avoid a Fourth world war, Naruto agreed. So when Konoha unanimously voted for Naruto to become the seventh Hokage, the blond hero disappeared, effectively declining the position.

As he wandered, Naruto soon discovered a second problem with sealing the Juubi into himself. He had become an immortal. At first he didn't notice, but as the others aged and died around him while he retained his appearance as a young adult, he felt that something was wrong. When his age reached 200 and he still felt healthy, he knew that something was wrong. By the time he reached 300, and seeing several generations grow old and die, Naruto had no choice but to start accepting that he wasn't going to die from old age.

For 9000 years he traveled the world. In those 9000 years, he was forced to witness the downfall of the shinobi era and the rise of the samurai era. And then the samurai era ended, to bring about another era. No matter what he did, he could not keep the times from changing. Finally accepting that change was inevitable, and too proud to test the limits of his immortality, he continued to live. At one moment, in a fit of boredom, he even created an [Era of Naruto] where he tried to unify the world without bloodshed. He had gotten close, but the paperwork and boredom soon became too much and he carelessly abandoned the throne and resumed his travels.

Despite the need to pick up and move every hundred years to avoid suspicion, Naruto usually found himself returning to a single area in particular. After 9000 years, it was now called Japan. Japan used to be part of the elemental nations, but the war against the Juubi had done more than needlessly waste lives. It had shattered the continent and created many islands large and small. And Naruto returned to Japan because, if one dug deep enough, they would find remnants of Konoha buried beneath the soil.

He had returned to Japan last year. Now, it was early summer and Naruto was wandering near a riverbank, admiring the technological innovations that had sprung up in the last hundred years. His appearance had changed drastically since he stole the power of the Juubi, his hair had become longer and straighter, reaching to his mid back while his two side bangs were framing his jaw and the middle bangs merely reached his nose.

The royal purple coat and dark blue pants that he wore would look rather charming if he had not left the coat unbuttoned to show off a bright orange polo shirt underneath.

It was on this walk that he spotted a massive waterspout suddenly erupt from the river nearby. This was soon followed by the rapid roars of explosions followed by billowing plumes of dust as multiple explosions were set off in the same spot. Concerned that it could be a terrorist attack, he quickly hurried over knowing that it was too late to save anyone but if he could prevent this from happening again he'd stop the assailant.

He arrived just in time to see seven delinquents running off. No wait one of the delinquents was a short geek with glasses. Was he being bullied when the explosions happened? But it looked like the fireworks were over, and a brief scan showed that no one was hurt. His gaze fell on a lone figure.

'That explains it,' was the predominant thought in his head when Naruto noticed the blond hair and headphones on the one person that wasn't running away. This person wore the coat and matching pants for his school. However, he dressed casually, leaving only one button in the middle of his coat fastened and exposing the yellow undershirt beneath the uniform. He looked like a person that liked to shirk the rules.

_Crush the strong, crush the weak._ Naruto had heard this person say once.

"Yo, Naruto," the boy said with an upraised hand. "Did you come to watch the show?"

"Got here a bit too late for that," the Jinchuuriki deadpanned.

"Actually," the boy started before he reared up and hurled a palm-sized rock, "You're just in time!" the boy called out, laughing.

BOOM

The sheer power and speed at which the rock had been thrown had turned it a glowing red. When it struck the ground, there was a loud roar and a massive plume of dust.

This was how the explosions were occurring earlier.

However, spotting the incoming attack a mile away, Naruto had intercepted the rock in midair with a punch of his own knocking it back in some crazy game of tennis. But the rock didn't travel far before it struck the ground and exploded.

And that was when Naruto waited patiently in his spot, ignoring the small fragments of dirt pelting him from the explosion. He just stared at the lingering dust cloud as it slowly evaporated. Its presence obscured his view of the other side; where his opponent stood.

When his eyes snapped upwards, he knew that his patience had been rewarded. His opponent was descending rapidly from above, a punch cocked and ready.

A shockwave erupted from the spot where Naruto blocked the boy's punch, dispelling the stubborn plume of dust and revealing the two combatants.

As he looked into the arrogant but determined purple eyes of his opponent, Naruto couldn't help but give a matching smirk before he reared back and delivered a punch of his own.

This boy was Sakamaki Izayoi. A friend that he had made recently. Crazy strong too. Easily recognizable by the headphones that he seemed to wear everywhere.

He met Izayoi on a nice sunny day like this one. While out on his daily stroll, he had spotted Izayoi massacring a group of high school thugs. Naturally he couldn't just stand by while this happened, so he did what any responsible third-party would do…he meddled.

Neither side took too kindly to this, so he ended up beating down both sides. Or, to make a long story short, after he knocked Izayoi unconscious, the thugs tried to recruit him only to turn on him when he refused.

After that, he went out to dinner. The ramen from that corner shop was pretty good.

A week later, Naruto was taking a walk through a different area when Izayoi came at him from behind.

Naruto deflected the attack.

"I knew it. Hahahah, this is great," the boy had yelled before he attacked again.

The fight this time was a bit more difficult seeing how Izayoi was fully prepared and going all out from the very start. Naruto had been surprised and mildly impressed. In his 9000 years, he rarely encountered anyone with this much speed and power following the Shinobi Era. But then again, he had 9000 years of experience and training to hone his skills and master his power. In other words, even though he was just punching and kicking, he was cheating so badly he made that asshole Madara look like an honest player.

Impressively, Izayoi managed to remain conscious this time. But he was still forced to concede defeat.

On the third battle, Naruto discovered one of Izayoi's weaknesses. Since the first fight, he had been curious about the headphones. After pulling them off during the battle, he had been surprised and a bit intimidated over how docile the other boy had suddenly become. Taking advantage of the situation, he demanded and made a new friend. However, he resolved never to take the headphones again. It was just too weird.

Now that they were friends, after that fight, they had agreed to hang out with each other when they had a chance. To make it more interesting, he had even bit the bullet and went to school just for the hell of it. More often than not, the peace wouldn't last as the two would soon find something to fight about. But that's what made this friendship fun.

And with that introduction finished, Naruto proceeded to grab the other boy's arm, pulled him off balance, and Judo threw him toward the neighboring river with one smooth motion.

"Bastard!" Izayoi cried out when he surfaced.

Naruto knew that, despite his friendly attitude, Izayoi had a secret desire to defeat him someday. Who knows, maybe it could happen. If there was one thing that he had learned, it was never to underestimate determined people.

In a gesture of goodwill, Naruto leaned over the riverbank and stretched out a hand. Izayoi took it and let himself be hauled out of the water.

"Again?" Izayoi asked as he started to wring out his jacket.

"Maybe tomorrow. I have an appointment with the publisher." Naruto had recently had Tales of a Gutsy Ninja republished and it had become a wildly popular novel. The publisher had been trying to get his attention for weeks now. Only now had he bothered to make his way over to find out what.

"Boring!" the headphone wearing guy announced.

Naruto had to agree. But he did have a responsibility to his godfather, so he couldn't let that go without at least a token defense.

Naruto's retort died on his lips when he saw it.

Right before the two of them, a transparent object was fading into view. The instant it solidified into an envelope, it glided toward them in an unnatural motion.

With one casual swipe, Izayoi snatched it from the air. "To Sakamaki Izayoi-dono? The hell is this?" he asked.

Mystified by the mysterious letter's appearing act, Naruto blandly said, "I don't know, maybe we'll know if you tried opening it?"

Soon the seal was broken and the contents of the envelope were out and ready for the two of them to see.

"Boys and girls with wondrous talents and much distress, I address thee! If you strive to test your Gifts, then cast aside your friends, your possessions, your world, and come to our Little Garden."

"Is -" Izayoi started to say something before a large crack split the world around him in two. Then, with the sound of glass breaking, the world shattered into large fragments and he found himself high up in the sky and descending rapidly along with two girls.

"What the hell!" yelled a girl with long brown hair.

Before Izayoi could voice his own complaint, Naruto appeared before him with a burst of yellow light.

"Da heck?!" Naruto cried out as he felt gravity take hold of him and he started to fall as well.

"Very funny, Naruto. Ha ha ha!" Izayoi shouted upwards, his voice barely audible in the high winds.

"What do you mean? Wait, you think this is a prank?!" Naruto shouted back.

"It isn't?" Izayoi retorted.

"Hey, I might like pranks but even I think that this is going too far!"

"Noodles!" the boy with the headphones immediately responded.

"There's no proof!" Naruto shouted back, denying involvement in a rather infamous debacle at school.

"Will you two shut up?" the long haired girl shouted, reminding the two boys that they weren't alone.

Realizing that they were still falling, Naruto quickly swam in midair toward each girl, grabbing and holding each of them under an arm. The girl with long brown hair gave a shout of protest and tried to struggle but the other girl remained silent although she tightened her hug on the cat.

With both girls safely tucked under each arm, he righted himself in midair so that he would hit the oncoming ocean at an angle.

At several intervals during the fall, Naruto felt himself passing through a whisper of something. Whatever it was, each time he hit one, his falling speed dropped a lot.

Several meters up from the ground, their speed had slowed to the point where landing would have been safe even if he wasn't a ninja. The flight ended mere seconds later and two splashes filled the air.

In Izayoi's case, he cannonballed right in and was underwater in no time at all.

In Naruto's case, the cause of the splash was from his shoes sinking about a foot into the water before his chakra could properly distribute his weight. After that, his feet were pushed out of the water and he soon found himself skidding across the lake's surface like a water skier using whatever energy was left from the fall.

As Naruto and the two girls slid toward the shore, the remaining energy from the fall slowly wore away and the twin wake trails left by his shoes became smaller and smaller. A few meters away from the beach, they had finally slowed enough that Naruto could pick up his feet and lightly jog the remaining distance without stumbling.

Once on the beach, the girl with long hair quickly broke free and stumbled away with shaky steps while the girl hugging the cat let Naruto set her down gently on the sand.

"Oi… Izayoi you alright?" Naruto called out as he turned to see Izayoi drag himself ashore.

"The hell I am! You didn't catch me and now I am all wet. Again!" Izayoi growled.

Naruto was nonplussed. "Hey man, you're my buddy and all, but if I had to pick between girls and a guy. I'd pick the girls. Sorry."

"The hell you are," Izayoi shouted back as he picked up a rock and threw it. Naruto leaned away, dodging it easily. In the distance, the rock struck a tree, causing it to crack before the top half fell over.

Before Naruto could retort with something witty, the girl with long hair finally got over her shock.

"I-I cannot believe it! To think they would pull me out without saying a word and on top of that, drop me from the sky!" she shouted.

"Same here, dammit! Depending on the situation, it could have been Game Over on the spot. It would have been better if they summoned us inside a rock or something at least." Izayoi added, going with the flow.

"...But if they did that then you wouldn't be able to move, could you?" the girl with the long brown hair logically reasoned.

"No problem for me." Izayoi replied while crossing his arms.

"I see. Quite selfish of you." the girl deadpanned before she whirled around. "And you!" she pointed at Naruto. "Because I am kind, I will overlook your actions this time around, but I would appreciate if you refrain from manhandling me in the future."

Holding up both hands in a mild gesture of surrender, Naruto quickly nodded in agreement.

"Hey princess, shouldn't you show some gratitude that he managed to keep you dry?" Izayoi groused as he continued wringing the water from his jacket.

"First of all, do not address me that way. My name is Kudou Asuka. Pay attention to that from now on. Next, you. With the cat. Your name is?"

The girl with the cat that had been silently approaching the man that had caught her earlier froze in place. "You Kasukabe," she finally said before turning to Naruto. "Excuse me, I wanted to say thank you for catching me."

"No thanks needed, You-chan," Naruto said with a cheery grin.

"Must you be so informal?" Asuka demanded, referring to Naruto's immediate use of the other girl's first name.

"It's okay," You said.

"If Kasukabe-san says that it is alright, then I shall drop the matter," Asuka said with a sigh.

"Kudou-san may as well," You added hugging the calico cat.

"I am uncomfortable referring to you so informally, so I shall continue calling you Kasukabe-san for now. Let us get along from now on, Kasukabe-san."

"Likewise."

Asuka nodded before whirling on one of the blond boys. "Moving on. Uncivilized brute one. Your name?"

Naruto pointed at himself as a massive grin formed on his face.

"Yes, you," Asuka boredly affirmed.

Chance! It had been so long since the last time…he might be a bit rusty but-

"Okay! Listen up! I am a hero from an age long past. Women love me and Men fe-"

"Just your name is fine," Asuka briskly interrupted.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto sullenly said as he crouched in his spot and poked the ground with a stick.

"Uzumaki-kun," Asuka tested.

"Call me Naruto."

Instead of acknowledging his request, she pointed at the next boy. "Next, uncivilized brute two. The one with the less-savage appearance. You do have a name, right?"

"Wow, I'm honored that the princess chose to speak to a lowly commoner like me. I'm just as the appearance suggests uncivilized and savage, Sakamaki Izayoi. Vulgar, brutal, and hedonistic, all that I need to be a hopeless person, so please follow the Rules of Use and Dosage Guidelines when interacting with me, Ojou-sama." Izayoi sarcastically said, his eyes narrow and an arrogant smirk on his face.

"I see. If you give me Handling Instructions I will think about it, Izayoi-kun." Asuka said without a care not being affected in the least by his threat.

"Haha, are you serious? I will make one, so be prepared for it, Ojou-sama." Izayoi replied with a boisterous laugh not deterred one bit by the lady's sharp tongue.

Watching the antics from the shadows of a large bush, Kuro Usagi couldn't help but sweat drop ' Uwaaah… all of them look like problem children.'

Her concern was soon replaced by another thought.

'Wait, didn't I summon three of them only? Why are there four?'

"You know? After all of that excitement, you would expect someone to welcome us here, right?" Izayoi casually remarked.

"Naturally. To just leave us stranded here without so much as an explanation. The nerve of some people."

"Shall we file a complaint?" You quietly asked.

The three were staring at a particular piece of greenery that was standing nearby.

"It would be greatly appreciated if you came out now and explained," Naruto added as he finally gave in and turned toward the bushes with the rest of them.

"Ohhh? So you noticed too eh? It seems like I was wrong. I thought you were becoming rusty," Izayoi said, sending a smirk toward Naruto.

"It's called being tactful. You know, conceal the fact that you spotted her from a hundred meters up in the air, so that she can continue believing that she's been doing a good job of hiding," Naruto airily waved off.

"A hundred meters only?"

"You're right. It was higher than that. She was really easy to spot among the green with her blue hair and revealing dress."

"F-cup?" Izayoi asked, leaning in.

"Sounds about right," Naruto conspiratorially whispered back.

The bushes shook slightly at that, but still no one revealed themselves.

"Boring…" Izayoi finally said.

"How tiresome," Asuka added.

"Shall we drag her out?" You asked.

Izayoi grinned at that. "Alright. But I want to be in charge of interrogation so I can do –censored–"

Asuka put her foot down. "Denied. Obviously, –censored– is a much better method of interrogating the prisoner."

"That's no fun. At least you need to –censored– with –censored– and then –censored– " Izayoi retorted, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Wait!" A pale white Kuro Usagi shouted as she jumped from her hiding spot and nervously approached the group. Any paler and her name might soon become Shiro Usagi.

"Hahaha, so the honored guest appears," Izayoi laughed. However his happiness failed to extend to his eyes as he gazed at the newcomer with coldness and contempt. Asuka and You also had a similar expression on their faces. It was a natural expression when considering what they had to deal with upon entering this world.

Naruto's expression was different. His was more curious than anything

"Please don't give Kuro Usagi such harsh stares. This unworthy rabbit has a delicate body, so such undue stress is dangerous. Please give Kuro Usagi smiles while listening carefully to what she has to say."

"I refuse!" Izayoi announced.

"Denied," Asuka added.

"…" Unlike the others, Naruto had followed her orders to the letter. However, there was some room for fun.

Kuro Usagi rapidly backpedaled several steps. "Uwaaah, that one has the smile of a lion ready to eat its next prey."

Her hurried retreat came to an abrupt end when she bumped into the final person in the group. Before Kuro Usagi realized it, Kasukabe had firmly grasped the base of one of her ears.

"Ei," You called out as she tugged as hard as she could.

"Iyaaaaah!" Kuro Usagi cried out.

"Wa-Wait a second! If it's only touching I would let you do it without a word, but I didn't think you would try to pull Kuro Usagi's lovely ears off on our first meeting! What are you thinking!?" Kuro Usagi yelled in shock and pain.

"Sating my curiosity." Kasukabe Yo stated way too calmly.

"You can't do everything you please!" Kuro Usagi yelled.

"Ooh, these rabbit ears are real?" Izayoi asked as he took hold of the other ear and pulled on it as well.

"...Well then, me as well." Asuka commented as You stepped aside to give her a try. She gave her own experimental tug.

"Wa-Wait a momen-" Kuro Usagi said in panic but was cut off when Izayoi and Asuka pulled each ear in separate directions at the same time. Her loud shriek afterwards could be heard from a long distance away.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"…Un-Unbelievable. To think it would take a whole hour for you to start listening to me... This must be how it feels to be the teacher of a class full of problem children." Kuro Usagi moaned while holding her ears in pain.

She was aware that someone was standing behind her when her hands were being forcibly but gently pried off. Before Kuro Usagi could protest, a soothing feeling started to permeate her scalp and the pain and soreness started to fade away.

"What?" Kuro Usagi whispered. Healing?

"My turn," said the voice behind her.

"Eh?" That was when Kuro Usagi felt a large hand take hold of one of her ears. "Fugyaaah!"

"Oh, you're right. These are real." While he was much nicer about it than the other three, Naruto was still tugging on the soft appendage.

"Right?" Izayoi said with a grin. "Makes me want to continue," he said as he held his hands before him, his fingers wiggling in a dangerous way.

"That's enough!" Kuro Usagi cried out as she forcibly pushed her tormentor away, receiving another painful tug to her ear as a result. But the pain paled in comparison to what she had experienced just earlier however.

"Well, are you ready to hear what I have to say," she demanded, hands on her hips, a fierce glare on her face. The 4 others remained unconcerned, since it gave off the threat level of a hamster.

"Yeah yeah, just start already."

Tears of gratitude nearly formed as Kuro Usagi realized that, after all of that trouble, the children had finally settled down and were willing to listen. "I will start explaining then! I will start right now!" she enthusiastically cried out. "Welcome to the world of Little Garden. We summoned you to grant you the privilege of taking part in the Gift Games, in which only those with Gifts of their own can participate." Kuro Usagi announced with a wide sweep of her hands.

"Gift games?"

"Indeed! You probably noticed, but none of you are ordinary humans. Those extraordinary abilities you possess are blessings that you have received from various deities, demons, spirits, and stars. Gift Games are events for those with Gifts to compete against one another. And lastly, Little Garden is a world, that was created solely for the purpose of those powerful Gift bearers to enjoy and reside in," Kuro Usagi explained as she looked at everyone in the group.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he heard this. Many of his abilities came from the Juubi, a nearly god-like being. Does that mean that he possessed a gift as well? His eyes wandered to the others. Did they also receive a gift from the gods? What kind?

Asuka held her hand up to indicate she had questions. "I will start with basic questions if that is acceptable. First of all, who is this 'we' that you mentioned?"

"Yes! In order to thrive, Gift bearers summoned from another world must join one of the many Communities of Little Garden." Kuro Usagi answered.

"No way," Asuka immediately declined the offer.

"You must join one!" Kuro Usagi repeated cheerfully, suggesting that this wasn't an option. "Moreover, the winner of a Gift Game gets the prize provided by the Host. It's a really simple system."

"Who is the Host?" This time You was the one that asked a question.

Kuro Usagi promptly turned to face the cat-holding girl. "They could be all manner of individuals."

She held up a finger, "For example, there are Games held by deities with too much free time, for the express purpose of testing mortals."

A second finger joined the first, "And then there are ones that are self-organized by various Communities so they can demonstrate their superiority."

Kuro Usagi took a few steps, spun around, and continued. "As a distinguishing feature, the former usually does not restrict who can participate. But as to be expected from deities, those games can be brutal and extremely difficult, with no guarantee of survival. However, the rewards are exceptional! It depends on the Host, but there is a chance you will be able to obtain a new Gift. As for the latter, you need to provide something to use as a Chip in exchange for the right to participate. The rule is, if all the participants are defeated, all the Chips will belong to the Host Community."

"The latter is quite crude," Asuka airily commented before inquiring, "What can be used as a Chip?"

"Chips can also be a great variety of things. Money and goods, land, rights, honor, people... And it is possible to bet the Gifts themselves. If you obtain a new talent from someone, it becomes feasible to take part in even higher level Gift Games."

If the excitement in her jabbering was any indication, Kuro Usagi should be bouncing off the walls by now. But her energy suddenly took on a sinister tone as her voice dropped a little and a dark shadow formed underneath her charming smile. "Be warned, however, if you lose a Gift Game with your Gift on the line you will also lose your ability."

Her smile could be taken as a provocation, so Asuka asked the next question in a similar tone. "I see. Then it is alright if I ask one last question?"

"By all means, by all means" Kuro Usagi amicably replied, the serious moment gone as if it were never there.

"How can someone start the Game itself?" Asuka asked. Upon hearing the question, the other three newcomers leaned in. They too were interested in how to start a game. Izayoi especially since this may be his chance to face really strong opponents.

"If we exclude the Games between Communities, then all you have to do is sign up before the registration deadline of each Gift Game. Shopping districts and shops organize small scale Gift Games, which you can participate in if you please."

Asuka raised an eyebrow after hearing Kuro Usagi's words. "Then is it correct to think of Gift Games as the law itself in this world?"

"Oh?" Kuro Usagi was surprised at the question. She gave it a moments thought before replying. "Fufufu. You are quite quick on the uptake. But I'm afraid that is only 80% correct, and 20% mistaken. Theft and robbery are prohibited in our world too and exchange of goods via currency is present also. Crimes committed by the use of Gifts are preposterous! Those criminals will be punished thoroughly! However, the essence of Gift Games are just the opposite! Therefore, the winning party will attain everything. It is possible to take the merchandise without payment if you are able to clear the winning conditions set by the shop for instance."

"That doesn't sound very civilized," Asuka said with a frown.

"You are quite right, but the Host bears all the responsibilities regarding its own Gift Games. In other words those cowards who don't want their possessions taken should not even partake in such events." By now, it seemed like Kuro Usagi had finished explaining the basics.

With that, she pulled out a sealed envelope. "Now then, since it was me who requested your summoning to this world, I have a duty to answer all questions you might have regarding the world of Little Garden. However, it would take too much time right now to explain everything, and as ally candidates, we cannot avoid exposing you to the outside world for long. So if it's alright with you, we could continue this conversation at our Community."

"Wait a minute! I haven't asked any questions yet." Izayoi who was listening with Naruto until now, stood up, raising his powerful voice.

"...What question would it be? About the rules? About the game itself?" Kuro Usagi warily asked. She had noticed that his careless smile had disappeared, so she had to be prepared for anything.

"That doesn't matter. I couldn't care less about that, Kuro Usagi. Even if we make you recite all the rules, nothing would change. It's a revolutionary's job to change the rules of the world, not a player's. The only thing I want to ask you… is about the letter that we got." Izayoi took his eyes off of Kuro Usagi, as he looked around. His eyes roamed past the other three to rest on the city covered by an enormous shroud.

He only asked one thing with a glance that looked down on everything. "Is this world... fun?"

"..."

The others stopped to listen. In the letter that they had received, it was written as such: "Cast aside your family, your friends, your possessions, your whole world, and come to our Little Garden." The most important question right now for the three was whether or not there is a fitting compensation for their sacrifices.

Off to the side, Naruto was fine with it either way. He had no attachments left in the other world. Even if it wasn't fun, a different change of scenery may help temporarily stave off the dull moments that had been plaguing him for millennia now. And maybe his immortality would be considered a gift too. If it was, and he found himself facing boredom once again, all he had to do was lose deliberately with his immortality on the line and then-

"...YES! Gift Game is a devil's game for those who transcended the limits of humanity. The world of Little Garden is much more fun than other worlds, I personally guarantee it!" Kuro Usagi said with a nod and a smile.

Naruto nodded, it seems things will get more interesting from now on.

**And Done!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Mondaiji-tachi.**

**Thanks to my beta reader Tama Saga**

**Story Start**

A group of children were playing around in front of the stairs leading to the interior of Little Garden.

"Jin, Jin, Jin! Why isn't Kuro Usa-neechan back already?"

"We already waited 2 hours in vain! I'm tired of this..."

The group of friends all started voicing their dissatisfaction, so Jin said with a slightly bitter smile: "...Looks like it. All of you can go home now. I will wait for our new allies here."

Jin Russell, the boy with unique characteristics curly hair and an oversized robe instructed the children gathering around him to go ahead and return home.

"Then we'll go home. It's tough being a leader, but still do your best Jin!"

"If it's alright to go back, then tell us sooner! My legs are like a wooden stick!"

"I'm hungry. Is it alright to eat dinner without waiting for you?"

The children started making their way home with a cheerful noise.

"Yeah. But don't stay up late even if we don't come back in time!" Jin sat down on the stone stairway. As a way to pass his free time now that he was alone, he directed his gaze absent-mindedly to the people passing through the gate. 'I heard the countries created outside Little Garden became more active recently, but since this Peribed Avenue faces the Edge of the World there is not much going on...'

In Little Garden, the term Country was commonly used to speak about extremely large communities. There is a clearly defined Edge of the World for the world of Little Garden, but they say that in the size of the surface area, it rivals a sun. There is no way that much natural resource and abundant land would be left undeveloped. The talented gather people and create a country, but at the same time there are many of those who do not possess any talent that start living outside the veiled city of Little Garden.

Races like Dragon-kind, Demon-kind, Mythical Beasts and Spirits all have large-scale settlements outside the walls of Little Garden. People with Gifts can gain strength in these cities outside Little Garden, then use those newly gained powers to once again participate in Gift Games inside of Little Garden.

'If the people from the other worlds turn out to be useless, we may have to leave Little Garden and find a place to live on the outside' Jin placed all his hopes and expectations on those new allies.

Because a powerless Community cannot organize Gift Games as a Host and can't participate and win in others either. Declined to a state where it can't even support itself. That means a Community's demise.

Currently, for certain reasons, Jin's Community except for Kuro Usagi was only comprised of children below his age. Leaving behind the land they lived on since they were born and setting out for an aimless journey was something that he wanted to avoid at all costs.

"Jin-bocchan! I've brought new people!" Jin raised his head. Kuro Usagi was approaching with two young ladies and a boy. Quickly standing up, Jin made his way over to greet the four of them.

"Welcome back Kuro Usagi. Are those three…"

"Yes indeed! These four..." Kuro Usagi turned her head around suddenly, and then promptly froze on the spot. "Eh? What? Wasn't there another one? A gentleman with fairly evil looking eyes, very bad mouth and an 'I'm a problem child' aura emanating from his whole body."

"Ah, Izayoi-kun?" Asuka suggested. "He said 'I'm gonna take a look at the end of the world. Be right back!' and ran away in that direction."

The direction that she was pointing to was a steep cliffside about 4000m up in the air.

Naruto and You both nodded in agreement.

Standing dumbfounded in the middle of the road, Kuro Usagi started questioning them with ruffled up ears. "Why didn't you stop him!?"

"Because he said, 'Don't stop me.'" Asuka retorted.

Naruto and You both nodded in agreement once again.

"Then why didn't you tell Kuro Usagi about it!?" Kuro Usagi yelled at her.

"Because he said, 'Don't tell Kuro Usagi about this'" Asuka casually batted back.

"It's a lie. It must be a lie. You just thought it would be too bothersome, please tell Kuro Usagi that it was a lie?" Kuro Usagi pleaded.

""Un."" All three newcomers agreed. It was a lie.

Kuro Usagi fell on her knees at that. She had called it, but being right did not make her any happier. She was really envious of her past self from a few hours ago, when she was still enthusiastic about the new talents' arrival. To think that all of them would turn out to be such problem children, there must be a limit to such harassment.

While Kuro Usagi lamented, Jin had turned pale upon hearing the news. "Thi-This is terrible! At the Edge of the World there are many Mythical Beasts roaming around freely for the sake of Gift Games."

"Mythical Beasts?" Asuka asked while tilting her head to the right. Naruto and You both raised an eyebrow after hearing that information.

"Ye-Yes. This term is used for beasts that possess Gifts, in particular near the Edge of the World there are some with powerful Gifts. Once you meet them it's over, no human can hope to oppose them!" Jin said hysterically.

"Oh, that is a shame. Is it Game Over for him already?" Asuka said without care or concern.

"Game Over before even starting a game? ... Witty." You bluntly stated.

"This is no time to be joking around!" Jin was desperately trying to press the seriousness of the situation, but the two of them only shrugged their shoulders after getting scolded. Having seen enough already, Naruto decided to intervene.

"He'll be fine."

"But…"

"If you're really that concerned, then I'll go look for him. But he's a pretty resilient guy so even if he's in a bad spot he'll still come out fine. Trust me."

Unfortunately, that remark was not enough to satisfy everyone.

Kuro Usagi stood up with a long sigh. "Haa, How unfortunate. Your confidence is misplaced. Kuro Usagi can guarantee with a hundred percent certainty that the dangers at the edge of the world are much much greater than what you have encountered before.

Kuro Usagi turned around to face the direction that Izayoi had disappeared in, her hair beginning to glow with power. "Jin-bocchan, please go on ahead with the others while Kuro Usagi brings back the problem child."

"I got it. Please be careful, Kuro Usagi," the young Community Leader said with a nod.

"Ohohohoho. This child wants to make a fool of Kuro Usagi, does he? Not only will I catch that problem child, I will make him painfully regret the fact that he looked down on me, the one called the [Highborn of Little Garden]," she muttered angrily as the air surrounding her seemed to rumble, an aura of rage building up around her. When her hair flared red, she shot upward with an incredible leap, the crater left behind marked her departure spot.

Right before she disappeared from view, the following message was faintly heard: "We will be back soon. Please enjoy yourselves and start exploring what Little Garden has to offer."

Off to the side, Naruto also seemed to be a tad annoyed. "What's with that? There's a reason for my confidence y'know," he mumbled.

"Hey," he called out, getting the others' attention. The two girls and the young boy turned to him.

"Jin, right?"

Before the boy could respond, Naruto uttered a brief, "I'll be back," before he vanished in a flash of gold.

"…"

Asuka was the first one to snap out of it. "Wait, what just happened?" she demanded as she walked over to the spot where the blond had previously occupied.

"I…don't know," Jin slowly answered.

You and the calico cat remained silent, but they were as surprised as the other two.

After several more moments of poking around, Asuka finally spun toward Jin, "We were supposed to go to Little Garden. You are our escort, correct?"

"Eh, ah. But what about…"

"It's obvious that he is not here. Nor will we have an answer if we remain in this spot. If he is still alive later, we can ask him then. Now then, shall we go ahead?" Despite wording it in the form of a question, it was anything but.

"Eh, ah, yes. I am Jin Russell, the leader of this Community. I only recently became 11 years old and am still very inexperienced, but let's get along from now on. Your names are?" Jin introduced himself before he timidly gestured to the both of them.

"I am Kudou Asuka, and the one holding the cat is," Asuka said while pointing at You.

"Kasukabe You." You introduced herself politely. After introducing themselves Jin, Asuka and You bowed in turn.

"Then let us proceed inside Little Garden. Let me see... How about we have a talk over a light meal?" Asuka took Jin's hand and started passing through the Outer Gate with a cheerful smile.

The four of them, Jin, Asuka, You and the calico cat arrived on the other side underneath the veil after passing through a passageway made of stone.

In that moment, the four of them were engulfed in radiant light. They saw enormous buildings as far the eye could see and the veil covering the city.

"O-Ojou! Even though we should've entered a shrouded city, we can see the sun!" the calico cat cried out in amazement.

"...Seems like it. But we didn't see into Little Garden from the outside," You replied gently to her friend.

From high up in the air they could not see the streets and buildings below the cover of the city. Nonetheless now the sun is apparent on the sky of the city. Looking at the city with buildings reaching for the sky, they tilted their head in confusion.

"The shroud covering Little Garden becomes see-through from the inside. It was originally placed there for the protection of species that can't take sunlight directly." Jin explained.

While gazing at the blue sky, Asuka raised an eyebrow and remarked with an ironic tone. "That is a very interesting story. Could vampires be living in this city?"

"Well... they do." Jin answered solemnly as if remembering something or rather someone.

"...I see..." Asuka put on a mixed expression. She didn't know what kind of lives those real vampires led, but to have them living in the same city with everyone?

The calico cat slid down from You's arms and started admiring the view of the Fountain Plaza. "Still though... The air really feels different here than in other human settlements I know. It's as clear as the air deep in the mountains after the morning fog clears up. Look! That sculpture in the fountain is really well made! If Ojou's father could see it, he would be delighted for sure." The calico cat stated in sheer amazement.

"Yeah, I agree." You quietly murmured.

"Oh, did you say something?" Asuka inquired.

"...Nothing." You replied with a tone very different from the gentle way she spoke with the calico cat.

Asuka didn't pursue her strange behavior any further, rather she turned her gaze towards the crowded Fountain Plaza. Near the fountain there were a number of elegant and stylish sidewalk cafes.

"Is there one that you recommend?" Asuka tilt her head to look at Jin.

"I-I'm sorry. I left the arrangements to Kuro Usagi...please choose any one you like." Jin anxiously said.

"That is quite generous of you," Asuka cheerfully said, needing no further instructions.

They ended up sitting at a cafe bearing the flag of 'Six Scars'. From inside the shop, a cat-eared young girl quickly appeared to take their orders.

"Welcome! What can I get you?"

"Let me see...two black tea and a cup of green tea. As for a light meal...this... and that." Asuka ordered.

"And a nekomanma!" the calico cat piped up.

"Yes yes. So three tea sets and a nekomanma."

"Hm...?" Asuka and Jin tilted their heads in confusion. But the one who was even more surprised was Kasukabe You. With eyes like she was experiencing something beyond belief, she asked the waitress. "You can understand what calico cat is saying?"

"Of course I do, I belong to the feline race. This gentleman has very charming fur for his age, so I'll give you a bit of an extra service." The waitress said with a coquettish smile towards the calico cat.

"Your ears are pretty and you have a nicely bent tail, Nee-chan. The next chance I get, I will come again for a bite." The cat meowed in praise.

"Oh mister, you're such a sweet talker" The cat-eared young girl affectionately said as she returned to the shop, her tail swaying back and forth on the way.

After watching her go back inside the shop, You started to pat the calico cat with a happy smile. "...Little Garden is an amazing place, isn't it calico cat? There is someone else who can understand what you say other than me."

"I'm happy for you, Ojou." The calico cat happily stated.

"Wai-Wait a second. Perhaps…are you able to converse with cats?" Asuka asked with an unusually flustered voice.

You gave a slight nod in response.

Jin was also fascinated and started asking questions. "Can you also communicate with other species, not just cats?"

"Yes. If it's alive, then I can speak with it." You calmly answered.

"That sounds wonderful. Then you can even talk with those wild birds flying around?" asked the curious Jin.

"Yes, I probably ... can. The only birds that I normally speak with are sparrows, herons, and cuckoos...but I spoke with a penguin before so it should be no problem," You replied in the same tone as one would remark about the weather.

"Penguin!?" Asuka and Jin excitedly called out, interrupting You. Both of them were surprised by the same thing. There should be plenty of chances for one to meet wild birds, but to think she had the opportunity to talk to a penguin!

"U-Un. I met one at an Aquarium. I'm also friends with the dolphins there."

"Bu-But if it's really possible for you to talk with every kind of species, then it's a very reassuring Gift to have. Here in Little Garden, the gap in understanding with Mythical Beasts is very wide," Jin reasoned.

"Is that so?" You asked with a tilt of her head.

"Yes. Some of the feline race and those who belong to a deity's household, like rabbits, are given an ability to communicate with other races, but Mythical Beasts are a whole independent species. It's common knowledge that if you are not of the same species or possess a suitable Gift, then it is very difficult to reach an understanding. Even Kuro Usagi who is the part of the household of Little Garden's Creator is not able to communicate with every species." Jin explained to them.

Faced with smiles from all around, You could only scratch her face nervously as she was unsure of how to respond.

In contrast, "I see...Kasukabe-san has a wonderful ability, I am a bit jealous." Asuka whispered with a melancholic voice and expression.

You and Asuka had only met for the first time a few hours ago, but You could already tell that Asuka's current expression was not normal.

"Kudou-san-" You started to say.

"Just call me Asuka. Nice to meet you once again," the referenced girl interrupted.

"Ah, ok. What kind of ability do you have, Asuka?"

"Mine? My power is ... well, just terrible. Because-"

"Oyaa? Isn't it the leader of that insignificant 'John Doe' Community from the East Block, Jin-kun himself. Kuro Usagi isn't here to babysit you today?" A disrespectful voice called out before Asuka could finish.

Standing behind Jin was a strange man, over 2 meters tall and dressed in a colorful tuxedo. It was really unfortunate, but that strange man was someone Jin was familiar with.

"Our Community is called 'No Name', Galdo Gasper from 'Fores Garo'." Jin replied with a frown on his face.

"Shut up you nameless. I heard you summoned new talents. It's shocking how you were able to keep your Community together in such a hideous state with its pride lost along with its Name and Emblem... Don't you think so, ladies?" The bulky man named Galdo dressed in a colorful tuxedo, boldly sat down on the free chair at their table.

Asuka and You smiled at him from courtesy, but at the same time they responded to his rude manner with a cold attitude.

"I am sorry, but if you wish to sit among us, would you care to introduce yourself before you start a conversation, as etiquette dictates." Asuka stated with a cold voice.

"Oops, I'm sorry. I'm affiliated with a Community called '666 Beasts' that resides in the Upper Echelons of Little Garden." Galdo replied proudly and arrogantly.

"A disorderly mob," Jin retorted.

"I'm the leader of - Hey, wait a minute! What disorderly mob, you brat!" After hearing Jin's remark, Galdo raised his voice, and at the same time his face changed greatly. His mouth ripped open till the base of his ears, and predator like fangs and wide open eyes were directed at Jin with intense hate. "Watch your mouth, kid. I'm known as a gentleman, but there are things even I can't pretend not to hear."

"In your times as the guardian of the forest, you would have taken a proper attitude towards us. Now you only look like a beast that lays waste to this neighborhood of Outer Gate number 2105380." Jin retorted calmly.

"Ha-, you are no different from a ghost clinging to the glorious past yourself. Do you even understand what kind of situation your Community is in?"

"There. Wait just a moment." Asuka raised her hand to interrupt the bickering two. "I do not understand the situation, but I clearly see that you two are on bad terms with each other. I would like to ask a few questions with that in mind." Asuka sent an icy stare. However the target of her gaze was not Galdo Gasper, but- "Ne, Jin-kun. Would you like to explain to us what Galdo-san might mean by pointing out our Community's current situation?"

"Tha-That is..." Jin was at a loss for words. That time, he realized he made a huge mistake. This was something that he and Kuro Usagi had wanted to hide until later.

Asuka did not miss his troubled expression, and pressed for answers. "You introduced yourself as the leader of this Community. In that case, like Kuro Usagi, it should be your duty to explain to your newly summoned comrades what Communities are. Am I mistaken?" Her asking voice was quiet, but her questions were assaulting Jin like a sharp knife.

Watching this scene, Galdo Gasper returned his beast-like face to its human form, then he said in a subdued tone and smile with hidden meaning. "Lady, it's just as you said. Explaining the rules of the world of Little Garden to newly summoned comrades is his natural duty. But of course he doesn't want to. If you allow me, the leader of 'Fores Garo', I will objectively explain the importance of Communities and the situation of the Community 'No Name', this brat I mean Jin Russell is leading."

Asuka once again looked at Jin with a suspicious expression. He was still sitting there with his eyes cast down in silence. "Might as well," she finally said. "Please do so."

"I certainly will. Firstly, Community is a general term, used for organizations founded by a number of individuals. Its form is different among different species. Humans use words as Family, Organization and Country in reference to them while Mythical Beasts call it [Horde]." Galdo started.

"I know that much." Asuka replied with a nod.

"Yes, just making sure. For a Community to be active within Little Garden it needs to have a [Name] and an [Emblem]. Particularly important is the [Emblem] that is used to indicate the territory of a Community. This shop has a large flag too, floating up there. That one is also that." Galdo pointed out the flag depicting the emblem of 'Six Scars' hanging from the roof of the sidewalk cafe. "That emblem, made up of six scar marks, indicates that this shop is within the territory of the Community that manages it. If you wish to expand your Community, then you can bet that [Emblem] against another Community in a [Gift Game] you both agreed to. In fact, I expanded my Community using this exact method." Galdo Gasper boastingly points to his [Emblem] engraved on his colorful tuxedo.

His emblem was made with a tiger stripe pattern. You and Asuka looking around the plaza saw stores and buildings decorated with the same pattern.

"If that pattern indicates the territory of a Community... Then is it correct to assume you are almost entirely in control of this neighborhood?" Asuka questioned.

"Indeed. Sadly the headquarters of the Community managing this shop is situated in the South Block so we can't make a move, but the rest of the active mid-class Communities around Outer Gate number 2105380 are all under my rule. Whatever is left is roughly summarized as either belonging to communities with headquarters in different Blocks or higher Levels, or belong to communities that aren't even worth the effort to take over," Galdo viciously laughed.

Jin was still grasping his robe tightly with eyes cast down.

"Now that you understand the basics, we will cover the problems with your Community, Ladies. To tell the truth ... the Community you now belong to was the greatest Community in this East Block up until a few years ago," Galdo stated while sneering at Jin.

"Hoh, how unexpected." Asuka commented as You listened carefully.

"Even though the leader was different then. It seems he was an excellent man, much superior to this Jin-kun now. Their scores with Gift Games were the best among humanity, they were the most powerful Community here in the East Block, they say."

After that Galdo suddenly started speaking in a bored tone. Since he possessed the greatest Community now, this story must have been of no concern to him at all. "In this Little Garden that is divided into West, East, North and South Blocks, beside the East Block he had deep relations with the core Communities of the North and South Block. Really, I'm telling the truth, ... Even though I detest Jin, that was really something. He earned the approval of the Mythical Beasts of the South and the Man-eating Monsters of the North, and even had connections with the Upper Echelons of Little Garden.

He was so impressive I could almost even admire him... well, the previous leader anyway. The Community achieved grandeur unheard of among the Communities founded by humans, but ...! They caught the attention of someone you don't want to make an enemy of. In the end they were forced to participate in a Gift Game and were annihilated in a single night, by the worst calamity in this world of Little Garden that is governed by Gift Games."

"Calamity?" Asuka and You asked back in unison. It sounded very unreal that an organization that extensive could be destroyed by a simple natural disaster.

"This is not a metaphor, Ladies. They are the single biggest and worst disaster in Little Garden. ...The ones commonly called a Demon Lord"

[With Kuro Usagi ]

For over half an hour, Kuro Usagi had been chasing the problem child known as Izayoi Sakamaki. This was going at full speed while spurred on by the danger that the boy had most likely gotten into. It was actually kind of far, the distance from the landing zone at the lake to the edge of the world.

Her speed nearly doubled when she saw the enormous water pillars from a distance. They were so large that even if she still had a ways to go until the edge, it was almost as if she was standing next to them.

For a regular game, something like this would not occur. The sheer power needed was immeasurable.

Because of her haste, she soon found herself standing at the bank of an enormous river.

"Hm? Are you Kuro Usagi? What's up with the color of your hair?" a voice called out from behind her.

He…He was okay! However, after being pushed this far relief or happiness were the furthest things from her mind.

"Where did you disappear to!?" she rounded on him, intent on dishing out punishment for making her suffer like this.

"[To the Edge of the World], obviously. Hey now, there's no need to be so angry."

Now that she was facing him, Kuro Usagi looked him over carefully as she planned her angle of attack. Judging from the lack of wounds and his ever-present but annoying smile, he seemed unharmed. So she didn't have to hold back much physically if he pushed her even more. Something seemed different, however. He seemed even more drenched than the time he fell from the sky.

"However I have to say, you have some pretty fast legs. I was just playing around, but still. I didn't think you would catch up with me this soon." Izayoi casually said, interrupting her analysis and lightening her mood.

"Eh…? Hah! Of course! I am called the [Highborn of Little Garden] for a reason. For a distinguished noble such as I…" Kuro Usagi stopped there as a terrifying thought presented itself.

…she was fast. Very much so. At full speed, she could even outrun unicorns. And when spurred on by the fear of danger to one of her charges, she ran even faster than that to get here. And yet, it took her more than half an hour to catch up to him. Just how fast was he?

"Let's head back then," Kuro Usagi finally said. "This area is dangerous and the others are waiting." Left unsaid was a mental note to teach Izayoi a lesson once they made it back.

"Ah, sure," Izayoi said with an easygoing grin.

Before they could leave the area, a wall of water suddenly sprung up in front of them, blocking their path.

"Not yet…the test is not over yet you brat!"

'No. No, it can't be. It was peaceful and quiet.' Kuro Usagi cried out mentally. Whatever this is, it left already after having played around with Izayoi for a bit. It didn't come back. It didn't come back!

She didn't want to turn around, but some unnatural force seemed to force her and with a shaky turn of her head she saw it.

An enormous serpent, over ten meters tall. Did she miss seeing it? No! Impossible! It was more than ten meters tall! She wasn't blind!

"Oh? You're still good to go?" Izayoi turned back around. With a hand to his shoulder, he tilted his head this way and that, casually popping the bones in his neck once…twice.

As for Kuro Usagi, she was terrified. This was undoubtedly a Water God that ruled this area. It was a…

"S-S-Serpent God! A Serpent God! What did you do? How did you make him this angry, Izayoi-san?!"

Izayoi just stood there, looking up at the massive god with a grin "He started babbling something about 'Choose your trial' or something while looking down on me. So I told him 'instead of testing me, I'm going to test you instead.' As you can see, the result was well ... disappointing."

"You bastard... Don't get full of yourself, human! I won't be defeated by something like this!" The Serpent God howled in a high pitched voice and her eyes and fangs sparkled. Pillars of water erupted from the river, created by powerful currents of air.

Now that she had a second look at the surroundings, Kuro Usagi could only assume the numerous trees scattered around twisted and torn are the result of their battle. If someone was swallowed up by those currents it was over. A human body would no doubt be mercilessly torn into a thousand pieces.

"Izayoi-san! Stand back!" Kuro Usagi cried as she interposed herself between the raging Water God and Izayoi. Even if he was a troublemaker, she did have the responsibility to protect him.

With that, she started to run the calculations in her head. The best course of action to getting them out of this was definitely diplomacy. Kuro Usagi might be powerful, but even she acknowledged that she would not want to face a Water God directly.

Her racing thoughts stopped when something tightened around her wrist.

"What the hell are you talking about? Kuro Usagi, you are the one who needs to step back. I'm the one who picked this fight and he accepted. Don't get in my way or else."

His tone was serious. Kuro Usagi found herself unable to respond. When he then gave her arm a sharp tug, she let herself be pulled aside so that he could step forward to face the Serpent God.

"Your words have spirit. Very well, in order to honor your courage, I have decided to crush you in one shot with my full power. However, if you somehow manage the impossible feat of surviving this blow I will recognize this as your victory."

"Don't talk nonsense. A fight doesn't end by deciding the winner. It ends when the loser is decided." Izayoi retorted.

Hearing those insolent words, both Kuro Usagi and the Serpent God were speechless.

"Phun, ... Those words will be your last!"

Responding to the Serpent God's roar, the water from the river spiraled upwards. Tornado like whirlpools swirling even higher than the Serpent God were sucking up hundreds of tons of water.

There were three whirling pillars of water. Each of them roared like a living being and moved like a serpent. The power that could call forth storms and even destroy whole environments. The power of the ones with the Gift of [Divinity]. The swirling pillars of water ate into the riverbank, twisting and tearing the trees around, enveloping Izayoi's body.

"Izayoi-san!" Kuro Usagi called out, but she was unable to get closer. He was a human. For a human to face a god really was impossible.

"...Haaa...Don't be cocky!"

It was a sudden occurrence. An attack exceeding the power of the storm. Izayoi inside the raging currents brushed aside the storm with one swipe of his hand. Instead of shattering his body to pieces, the powerful waves of water harmlessly passed by him as if he were a ghost.

"No way!?"

"Impossible!?"

A pair of voices cried out in shock upon seeing a feat that transcended the limits of human capabilities.

The Serpent God had let his guard down when he poured everything into this attack. An attack that was easily deflected.

For Izayoi, it was the perfect setup for a counterattack.

"Well ... You were pretty good," he declared after landing on the ground with a merciless laugh.

An explosive noise seemed to shatter the air, and the ground beneath his feet broke apart as he jumped. His leap brought him eye to eye with the Serpent God, and with a horrific punch, he hit the Serpent God so hard that its huge body flew upwards, then fell back into the river. The impact forced the water to overflow, flooding the surrounding forest.

"Shit. I got wet a lot today," Izayoi grumbled as he returned to the shore with an annoyed look on his face. "Kuro Usagi, you will at least pay for the cost of cleaning, right?" he called out.

Instead of responding, the rabbit girl's thoughts were on overdrive. It was impossible. This was really impossible. A human defeated one with the Gift of [Divinity] using only raw strength?

It was then that she remembered the words of the Host that provided the summoning. Whoever was summoned would undoubtedly bear some of the most powerful gifts of humanity.

She had dismissed it as only lip service.

But with this…if these children really did possess such powerful gifts, perhaps their community really did have a chance!

She was so lost in thought that…

"Oi? What's up with you? If you don't snap out of it, your body is mine."

She was in danger of being molested by Izayoi.

Thankfully, the ground chose that moment to shake as something large and heavy entered the area.

"Eh? Kyaaaa!" Kuro Usagi cried out upon seeing the intruder.

"Tch," Izayoi tsked before he turned to the newcomer. "You're late!"

"Yeah, sorry bout that. I got lost," Naruto sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his head.

A definite truth. Many would argue that Naruto's Hiraishin was a cheat, especially since he had long passed the point where he needed to place seal markers to warp to a spot. A rather convenient feature when, without a durable anchor, the markers were expended upon a single use. However, without a seal marker he could not directly pinpoint someone's location. And so, after quickly tagging and expending his only seal marker to chase Izayoi into this world when the headphone wearing guy started to fade from view, he found himself having to track his friend using the old fashioned way. A feat easier said than done, even for experienced trackers, when one does not recognize the surroundings.

It would have been easier had he followed after Kuro Usagi, but his first Hiraishin took him far past the bunny girl. In other words, he had overshot her and ended up in the middle of nowhere. So what do you do if you can't tell where you are? Advance at full speed until you see something familiar.

As one would expect, it didn't work. Along the way, however, he did manage to find a…

"Where'd you find the frog?"

"Found him over there somewhere. And it's a toad." Naruto said with a proud grin as he stood on the large toad. It was much smaller than the water serpent that Izayoi had defeated, maybe just a little over half the size, but it had been so long since he had seen a giant toad that Naruto was quite happy.

"Toad, Frog. Doesn't matter. All I care about is…"

Izayoi leapt.

"…whether it can put up a fight!"

BOOM

In a way, it was rather comical to see the toad's humongous cheek cave inward from the force of Izayoi's punch before the toad itself was launched spinning several meters. It was obvious that the toad would be knocked unconscious from said strike. It landed in the river with a loud plunk. When it resurfaced, it was bobbing several meters downstream. The current was carrying it away. Soon it was out of sight.

On the other hand…

"Fast as always," Izayoi commented, pointing out that Naruto had somehow abandoned his spot on the toad's head right before it was hit.

"Aww man, I never got a chance to thank him for finding you guys." Naruto complained before he looked around. "Hmm? What's this giant snake thingy doing sleeping here?"

"Izayoi-dono defeated it," Kuro Usagi helpfully answered.

"Izzat so? Wow, it's really big. Nice job man. Wish I was there to see it," Naruto honestly answered, a bit curious about what happened. "Wanna go look for another one?"

"Yeah. Okay."

"Wait!"

The two turned

"Umm…it's time to return." The rabbit girl fidgeted, "It'd be rude to keep the others waiting."

"Rejected!" Izayoi answered immediately.

"What?!" Kuro Usagi cried out as the two left the clearing. "Wait!"

She made to follow them before she stopped and looked at the unconscious Serpent God. "First…"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"How about?" Naruto pointed at a large four-legged sheep-like creature with an oddly stupid expression on its face. It was big, maybe five meters tall, but it didn't look very strong.

Izayoi shot him an 'are you kidding look'

"I'm not," Naruto responded. When Izayoi's look remained unchanged, Naruto stood up. "Fine…I'll show you."

Moments later, he returned with an odd expression on his face.

"It ran," he dutifully reported to the one who saw everything.

"What did you expect?"

"That's just wrong though! If they're that big, they shouldn't just run when they see me. I mean, look at me. I'm totally innocent here."

While Naruto ranted, Izayoi tuned him out.

"Hey," Izayoi finally said, stopping Naruto in mid-rant. "Go chase it."

"Heck no, that'd be embarrassing," Naruto shot back.

"Chase it," Izayoi repeated.

"Make me," Naruto refused once again.

"Oh? Gladly," Izayoi started to stand up.

That was when the sound of something large entered the clearing that they were hiding in.

"I finally found you!"

Actually, it was just Kuro Usagi, but she had broken through with enough noise to put a stampeding elephant to shame.

"How long will you make Kuro Usagi chase you?" the rabbit girl demanded.

"Chasing? It looks like you're going around digging up plants."

Next to him, Naruto nodded in agreement. The origin of their conclusion was easy to find. One merely needed to see the large plant, as tall as her, that the rabbit girl was hugging tightly.

"For your information, this is not just a plant. It's a sapling of a tree called a water tree. And I didn't dig it up. It's the reward from the Gift Game that Izayoi participated in."

"Hm?" Izayoi and Naruto looked at her with a perplexed expression.

"When you compete with a deity in a Gift Game, you normally choose from 3 basic methods. The most popular ones are Strength, Knowledge and Valour. When you choose a contest of strength usually a suitable opponent is prepared, but in this case you defeated the deity himself. This is the reward! Isn't it grand?" she explained before she started bouncing back and forth in a happy dance.

Izayoi quickly glanced at Naruto. It wasn't for confirmation or affirmation, but a check to see whether the other blond had noticed as well. The slight nod was easy to spot.

So he did notice. It confused him how that guy could be perceptive of some things while being ridiculously stupid in other situations, like that sheep incident.

"It's good that you like it so much, but I'd like to ask you something."

"Go ahead! I'll answer whatever questions you want!" Kuro Usagi carelessly answered.

"How generous. But for now, I only need this one. Kuro Usagi. You're hiding something. Aren't you?"

"Eh?" That snapped the bunny girl out of her happy daze. "What do you mean?" she stammered.

Neither replied, they only stared silently at her. Whatever playfulness or cheerfulness they had before Kuro Usagi appeared had left their expression.

"Wha-What is it Izayoi-dono? Naruto-san? You both have such scary expressions. Did I offend you two in some way? Is that why you asked such a dangerous question? " she paused, a tense expression on her face. "The…The sapling is yours, Izayoi-dono, Kuro Usagi was just holding it for you."

"I don't care about the tree. You can keep it."

"Eh…thank you…but…"

"Stop trying to hide it, Kuro Usagi. We know something is up. If you still refuse to answer, I will begin leading you with questions that I'm pretty certain that I know the answer to. I will start with asking why you had to summon us in the first place."

"That is…just as I said before. For you to enjoy and have fun while you are here…"

"Ah, that's right. At first I thought it was purely out of someone's goodwill. Or just a joke. Life was getting boring and the other two seemed like they had good reasons for coming since they didn't complain or decline your invitation. That leaves this guy. Ignore him. He wasn't invited but he was rude enough to show up and crash the party anyway -"

"Hey!"

"Not invited?"

"- so I didn't care about the situation. However, now that I've been here for a while, Kuro Usagi somehow looks…desperate."

Despite not saying anything, the distress was clear on Kuro Usagi's face.

"So you continue to remain silent. Okay, how about the fact that I've been disregarding your requests. You've shouted a lot, but you haven't yet tried to physically punish me. Is there a reason that you're letting me go so easily? This is an isolated area, no one will know."

"…later…"

"Oh? Later she says? I look forward to it. However, I can see that we need to continue, so I guess my next question will be this: to us, this sapling is just a tree. There doesn't appear to be anything special to it, and yet you are very happy about it. What does it do?"

"…"

"Perhaps it provides water? It is after all, a sapling of a water tree. And as you know, most living creatures cannot survive without water for more than a few days. It is for this reason that most civilizations grow around bodies of water until they develop ways to move that water to dry areas. So if you cannot provide your own water, then I expect something serious has happened. That leads into my next question," he leaned in and his voice dropped to a harsh whisper, "how close is your Community to dying?"

"….!"

"I can see that that's not enough to make you talk. Then how about this? If we decided to join another community, will you let us go?"

"!"

"Oh? Nice reaction. Now then, I'm tired of asking leading questions so I will ask again. What are you hiding?

"…"

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to…"

"…"

"…but I really will join a different Community then."

"Please wait…if I tell you…will you assist us?" Kuro Usagi asked as she looked down and to the side, one arm squeezing the other.

"He might," Izayoi said while pointing a thumb at the silent guy standing behind him. "As for me? Only if it's interesting." He laughed loudly at this, but one could easily see that his eyes were serious.

"…Understood. Then Kuro Usagi will attempt to explain our Community's terrible situation as interestingly as possible."

Whatever hoops she had to jump through, she would jump through. While the guy next to him might be useful, Izayoi-dono was far too important to let go.

"Our Community does not have a Name to call itself. Therefore when someone wants to address us, they refer to us with the 'No Name' pseudonym.

"Ho? What a clever name. Then?"

"Furthermore, we don't have an Emblem that represents the pride of our Community. This Emblem also fills the important role of indicating the territories of the Community."

"Uh huh. Then?"

"Beside the Name and Emblem, we don't have any of our core members anymore. To put it more bluntly, out of the 122 members only Jin-bocchan and Kuro Usagi possesses a Gift powerful enough to participate in Gift Games, the rest are all children under the age of 10!" She finished with a pained expression.

"Oh? Just children? Is Kuro Usagi's Community functioning as a nursery?"

"Where are their parents?" Naruto interrupted, breaking his silence to ask.

"All abducted. By the hands of the greatest calamity of Little Garden ... a Demon Lord." Kuro Usagi said with a pained expression.

"De...Demon Lord!?" Izayoi repeated before his eyes started to twinkle. "Demon Lord! What the hell, how cool is that!? Is there really someone in Little Garden who is called with that wonderful name?" Izayoi asked Kuro Usagi like he was a child who just noticed a new toy in a shop's window.

"We-Well ... Yes. But it's probably a little different from Izayoi-san's imagination." Kuro Usagi replied, a sweat drop forming.

"Really? But if he calls himself Demon Lord, then he must be powerful, diabolical, tough as hell scoundrel that no-one minds if I crush with all I have." Izayoi said excitedly.

"We-Well ... if you defeat one, you will probably receive a lot of gratitude from a lot of places. Depending on the conditions it may be possible to make one your subordinate after you defeated it." Kuro Usagi answered a bit freaked out at his sudden enthusiasm.

Naruto just listened, a hard expression on his face.

"The Demon Lords are certain war deities that belong to a special privileged class in Little Garden who have the authority called Host Master. If someone is challenged by them to a Gift Game, it's over, no one can refuse. We were challenged to a Game by a Demon Lord with Host Master authority, forced to participate, and our Community ... was robbed of everything it needs to function as a proper Community."

This wasn't a figure of speech either. Kuro Usagi's Community was robbed of its status, prestige and even all its members. All that remained was ruined vacant land and the children. However Izayoi did not show any signs of sympathy, he only reshuffled his legs while sitting on top of the rock.

"Please… help us, Kuro Usagi and the community needs you two, plea-"

"Okay," Naruto agreed instantly, interrupting her before she could finish.

"Told you that you would get him. All you need is some bleeding heart story and he'll bite."

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

"Hahaha," Izayoi laughed out loud before his gaze sharpened. "Who are you kidding? And better yet, why is it always women that ask?"

"Really? Wasn't there a guy or two?"

"Nope," Izayoi's response had a confident lilt. And with that, Izayoi stood up with a huge stretch. "So now that you have him, you won't need me anymore."

Kuro Usagi panicked. "Eh? Wait. What do you mean?"

But Izayoi ignored her. "Naruto, I'm going to find a Community with a rival. Once this fails, I expect you to join that rival."

"You're pretty confident, aren't ya? Just you wait, this Community will be alive and well a million years from now," Naruto shot back with a confident grin of his own.

"That's a pretty bold claim yourself. A million years? It won't even last one. Cause that's all the time that I'll need to destroy your hard work."

"What's this? You spite my generosity?"

"What do you mean generosity? I'm the one being generous. I'm giving you that extra nine-hundred thousand years to train so that you can finally reach the level that I will gain in this one year."

"Heh"

"Heheh"

The both started laughing uproariously while lightning seemed to flash between their eyes.

"Why? Why?!" Kuro Usagi cried.

And this time, Izayoi finally turned to her. "Well, I'm a hedonistic guy, you know. To be part of a Community that doesn't even have water? And a bunch of rug rats? It doesn't sit right with me.

There wasn't much that Kuro Usagi could say to that.

"And to have people snobbishly look down on me just because my Community doesn't have a name or an emblem. If I punched everyone that did that, I wouldn't have time to sleep."

Kuro Usagi couldn't say anything to that either.

"Honestly, I don't get why you can't just reestablish the Community under a different name with a new emblem. Start over again."

"That is a possibility. But it's no good! By changing the name it means the complete dissolution for a Community. What we want more than anything…was to protect the place for our comrades to return to."

I'm sorry, repeat that for me?

"It's a thorny path and things are difficult now. But with your assistance and some effort we will eventually reclaim everything that we lost. Once we do that, we can proudly display our name and emblem and announce to our returning comrades, 'Welcome Home.'

"Phuun…" it was obvious that Izayoi didn't care. "Admit it. The sorry state of this Community is because of your pride and comrades."

"Kuro Usagi admits it! Izayoi-dono is right! It would be much easier if we threw those away! But we can't."

"…" the uncaring look remained on Izayoi's face.

"We absolutely absolutely cannot!" Kuro Usagi repeated.

"…" Izayoi's eyes were closed and his head drooped. It gave the appearance that he had fallen asleep out of boredom.

"…" With nothing else to say, silence had descended on the three. Kuro Usagi drooped. She couldn't convince him. Izayoi. Their community's best hope.

Izayoi suddenly opened his eyes and sat up. "Sounds fun," he called out, breaking the silence. To the side, a grin appeared on Naruto's face.

"Huh?" the rabbit-girl unintelligibly gasped as she straightened up.

"Don't 'Huh?' me. I said that I will assist you, so you should be more happy about it, Kuro Usagi.

"But…you said…"

"I said that I have accepted. Are those ears for show? Or maybe you do not need me? If not, I'm sure I can find somewhere else to go."

"Don't do that! You absolutely must not do that! We need Izayoi-dono!"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kuro Usagi was humming a tuneless ditty as she led the way. The other two casually followed after her.

"This isn't the way back," Izayoi finally said.

"It isn't," the rabbit girl up ahead stopped and turned around before peering around the water tree sapling that she was carrying. "Have you seen it?" she added.

"?"

"You said that you wanted to see the [Edge of the World], correct? Have you seen it yet?"

"Of course not. That weakling snake was in the way," Izayoi announced.

"Weakling…snake," Kuro Usagi quietly repeated. What an arrogant way to refer to one with the Gift of [Divinity].

"But I get it now, you're taking us to see the [Edge of the World]," Izayoi concluded before adding, "However, weren't you pushing us to return as quickly as possible?"

"Now that I have secured your assistance, there is no need to hurry the process along."

"Then this is for me, right? Are you trying to bribe me to stay by satisfying my whims? That's no good Kuro Usagi, I'll become bored really quickly if you fulfill all of my requests."

"Ahahaha, you're thinking too much," the rabbit girl weakly laughed.

"..However, Kuro Usagi…"

"Hmm?"

"…Something bothers me about what you said earlier. Hurry the process along? So if we were still deciding, you would have forced us to sign a contract with fine print that would make things difficult for us to leave the Community?"

Rivulets of sweat poured down Kuro Usagi's face as she forced herself to remain silent.

"You know, all of a sudden I feel like taking back my acceptance and joining some other community."

"Nooooo!"

"Then let me grope your breasts."

"What?!"

"I might reconsider if you let me grope your breasts."

"Nooo! Kuro Usagi's chastity that she's guarded zealously for 200 years is in danger!"

"Hahahahaha –" Izayoi laughed boisterously as he reached out.

His laughter was cut short when a hand latched onto his wrist.

"You're stopping me?"

"I am."

"Why?"

"Because I'd like to grope her breasts first."

"Ho ho? Naruto, I think you just said something dangerous there."

"What? That I'd like to grope her breasts first?"

"So I did not mishear. You do realize that I cannot let that pass, correct?"

Naruto nodded.

"And you're okay if I demand a duel for this?"

"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do"

"Spouting such cool lines. Forgive me but, just for that, I'm going all out."

"Please wait, don't figh-" Kuro Usagi started to say as she inserted herself in between the two.

"…" Naruto was speechless. So was Kuro Usagi.

Moguu.

From his cocky grin, it was obvious that Izayoi had planned this from the start.

"Shit!" Naruto finally cried out. He had been outmaneuvered. If only she had been facing his way.

Moguu Moguu.

"Ahnn…" Kuro Usagi let out an involuntary moan.

"Sorry Naruto, Looks like I win." Izayoi gloated before he gave another experimental squeeze.

Moguu Mo-

Slap!

"Just what are you thinking?! To grope one who is known as the [Highborn of Little Garden]," Kuro Usagi cried as she turned her body to the side in an attempt to hide her impressive bust from view.

"I was defending my right to grope your breasts."

"Guuu, to say that without an iota of embarrassment. Kuro Usagi must teach you a lesson."

"Oh? What sort of lesson? Will it be enjoyable?"

It won't! It will be very harsh!

"Leaving."

"Fugiiiii! Fine! No punishment!"

"So that means I may continue groping your breasts?"

"No!"

"But there's no punishment."

"B-Because…" the rabbit girl looked down and began twiddling her fingers.

"Will you let me grope you again, then?"

"If it's only that much then…M-Maybe…" For the Community, she cried desperately to herself. He will be an important pillar to the resurrection of the Community. He's too important to let go.

"So how about letting that guy touch your breasts?" Izayoi asked, to which Naruto gave him a thumbs up and a big grin. Too bad Naruto didn't see the sinister grin on the other guy's face.

"Never!"

Naruto collapsed immediately. "What's with this difference in treatment?!" he shouted for all to hear.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It took them less than half-an-hour before they finally reached the Great Waterfall of Tritonis.

The waterfall of Tritonis was dyed crimson basking in the light of the sunset, the violent spraying of water created a myriad of rainbows. The elliptic looking mouth of the river continued on to the distance far away, the flowing water ran over the [Edge of the World] and fell down to the endless sky beneath.

Kuro Usagi explained while enduring the wind and the water spray falling from the cliffside. "So, how is it? This is the Great Waterfall of Tritonis, it's width is around 2800m. There probably wasn't a waterfall like this one in your world, right?"

"Aah. It's honestly amazing. So it's around two times the width of Niagara. What is it like below this [Edge of the World]? Is it carried by a huge turtle after all?" According to one of the first theories, the world is not spherical, instead it floats on water, on the back of a huge turtle. Izayoi was probably thinking about that.

While Kuro Usagi explained about the pillars known as [World Axes] that held Little Garden up, Naruto briefly remembered about the island carried by a giant turtle when he trained with Killer B. After the war, he had stayed on the island for many years, travelling wherever the turtle wanted to go. Unfortunately…even though turtles are long-lived, even they succumb to old age eventually. Last time that he checked, which was like four or five millennia ago, the turtle's body had drifted until it had gotten itself stuck somewhere off the coast of Africa.

Shaking himself out of his morbid thoughts, Naruto returned to staring at the Great Waterfall with a sad smile.

It was when the Great Waterfall of Tritonis was dyed a darker crimson as the sun slowly descended that Kuro Usagi turned to Naruto. Izayoi continued admiring the waterfall with a childlike expression.

"Uzumaki-kun…right?"

"Hmm?" the whiskered boy's melancholy evaporated as he turned to her with an interested look. "Call me Naruto."

"Naruto…thank you for agreeing to help Kuro-Usagi's community."

"Ah, it's no problem. Although I dunno why you worked so hard to get Izayoi to join. Good job on it, by the way. I can't believe that I'm saying this, but getting him to agree with you can be tough."

"I-It was of utmost importance for Kuro Usagi to recruit Izayoi-dono. You should have seen his fight with the Serpent God. His strength, it was incredible!"

Naruto's expression took on a comical appearance. "Hey, I'm strong too," he cried out as he straightened up and pumped an arm to show off his bicep.

"Is that…so?" Kuro Usagi just gave him a nod and a smile, but it was obvious that she was just humoring him.

"I'm strong! Really strong!" Naruto repeated, outraged at being dismissed.

"Oh? Is that the yipping sound of a weakling that I hear?" Izayoi casually asked from the side.

Patchi.

A vein in Naruto's forehead had popped.

**Chapter End.**

**Please leave some review.**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Modaiji-tachi**_

_**Naruto will show some of his power on this chapter. I edited the fight scene.**_

_**Story start.**_

They met at the water fountain's plaza just as the sun was going down.

Having heard what happened, Kuro Usagi's rabbit ears were standing on end as she blew her top once again. What followed was a storm of preaching and questions.

"H-How did you come into contact with the leader of 'Fores Garo'?! And you even managed to pick a fight in that short amount of time!?" Kuro Usagi screeched before she worriedly started pacing this way and that.

"Moreover, the Game's appointed date is tomorrow!?" she hysterically continued.

"And to be battling in the enemy's territory!" at this point Kuro Usagi was emitting a prodigious amount steam "There's no time to prepare! Just what were you thinking! Are you listening, you three?!"

"""We pissed him off. We're currently reflecting on our actions.""" Of the three who had gone on, ahead, one of them was sincerely apologetic while the other two did not.

"Silence!" Kuro Usagi raged. For all three to say the same thing at the same time, it was obvious that the excuse had been coordinated beforehand, possibly under somebody's suggestion.

Izayoi who was watching this with a smirk, delivered the line that would derail Kuro Usagi's lecture. "It should be fine. It's not like they were indiscriminately picking a fight, so forgive them."

"G-Guu," the rabbit girl bitterly groaned before she held up a scroll-like object, "You may be thinking it's fine as long as it's interesting but the only thing we get from this Game is self-satisfaction, you know? Look at this Geass Roll."

The [Geass Roll] that Kuro Usagi was currently holding was a [Gift]. With one, it was possible for those who are not [Host Masters] to Host a [Gift Game]. However, only those with the [Host Master] gift could create one.

The layout of a [Geass Roll] was pretty standard. Upon one, the host and the participants would find the [Game]'s details, rules, wagers and prizes. It was sealed at the bottom with a signature of the leader of the hosting community.

On the Geass Roll currently in Kuro Usagi's possession, the contents of the prize section that she was pointing at went something like this: "Should the Players win, the Host shall admit to all the crimes referred to by the Players and, after abiding by the judgment of Little Garden's laws, the Community will be dissolved."

"Well, it certainly is self-satisfying. Since if we let time pass, we'll be deliberately taking on the risk that we'll lose the proof to substantiate our claims." As a side note, Asuka's group's wager was Toleration of the Crime. It wasn't just related to this time; they would need to continue keeping their silence.

"But as long as time passes, then their crime will definitely be exposed. After all, the crucial children are...well," Kuro Usagi faltered. She had also heard about Fores Garo's bad reputation but had not thought the situation would have deteriorated to such terrible conditions.

"That's right. The hostages are no longer of this world."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. Since he had just arrived, he had a feeling that he was missing out on something important. While this wouldn't bother Izayoi since seeing a riled Kuro Usagi was kind of fun, Naruto felt a strange worry well up when he heard the words 'children' and 'hostages'. He would later find out that he was right to be worried.

As Naruto tried to read between the lines, Asuka had continued. "…evidence will surely come up. But it's also true that that would take a little bit of time. We don't want to have that lag before we pass judgment on that scum."

Asuka's distaste stemmed from the fact that the laws of Little Garden were, in the end, only applicable within the bounds of Little Garden City.

Outside that was a lawless region where various races' communities lived under their respective laws and rules. If the leader of 'Fores Garo' escaped there, he could no longer be judged under Little Garden's laws.

However, with the compulsory fulfillment afforded by the [Geass Roll], they would be able to chase Galdo no matter how far he ran by using the powerful [Geass].

"There's more, Kuro Usagi. I can't allow scum like that to be so close to my daily life because of my morals and such. If we let him run away now, he'll definitely come gunning for us again," Asuka reasoned.

"W-well...It may be troublesome if we were to let him run." Kuro Usagi faltered.

"I also don't want to let Galdo run. A villain like him must not be allowed to roam free." Jin showed that he shared the same opinion.

Kuro Usagi finally nodded, conceding the argument. "Haa... You all just can't be helped. Well, fine. I also agree that he's irritating. For something of Fores Garo's level, just Izayoi-san alone guarantees that we will win." That was Kuro Usagi's honest appraisal since she had already seen how strong Izayoi was. As she said this, puzzled expressions appeared on Izayoi's and Asuka's faces.

"What are you saying? I won't be going, you know?" Izayoi stated.

"Of course. I won't let you participate." Asuka seconded.

"Th-That's no good! You're comrades from the same Community, so you have to cooperate with each other."

"It's not that, Kuro Usagi." Izayoi interjected, stopping her with his right hand before she could continue.

"You have to understand. They were the ones that picked this fight and the other guys accepted it. Even I will not sink so low as to interfere in someone else's fight."

"Oh my, you understand quite well."

After a few minutes of thinking Kuro Usagi relented, and with a heavy sigh she nodded and stated. "...Ahh, jeez, do as you wish."

Having been toyed around with the entire day, Kuro Usagi was already exhausted and lacked the energy for a retort. "It's just a Game where we won't lose anything so it's fine whatever happens", she muttered with drooping shoulders.

At the same time, Naruto added his own two cents to the conversation. "But if you need it, I'm willing to help."

"…"

"And here I was thinking that the male side of the equation might actually hold some promise this time around. Let me tell you right now. We do not need your help," Asuka firmly replied.

"Chauvinist," You added.

Izayoi had to laugh at that. "Uwaaah, harsh,"

"Eh?! No! Seriously. I was just saying if you need it," Naruto defended, flustered.

"There you go again. It just goes to show you that men never learn."

"F-fine. I won't help. Is that okay then?"

"Naturally. However…"

Asuka suddenly stopped and pointed.

"…as punishment for your indiscretion, you will buy me something from over there."

"Ah, me as well," You seconded.

"Thanks for being a pal," Izayoi jumped in.

She was pointing at a small curio shop. At first glance, one could see all sorts of accessories ranging from hairbands to pocket watches on display. If one were to look closer however…

"Hey, Kuro Usagi."

"What is it?" Kuro Usagi asked with an 'I don't care' smile on her face. Now that she had given up, she had become surprisingly mellow.

Naruto beckoned her over. "I have a question."

"Is that so?" the rabbit cheerily asked in a tone that sounded like she was floating on clouds.

Naruto nodded and pointed. "How much is that ribbon over there."

"Let me see…this one?"

"Yeah…"

All traces of her relaxed mood disappeared in an instant. "T-this costs as much as a new house."

"Is that a lot?"

"It's a lot!"

"So I wasn't mistaken…" He was in a foreign world, right? So, naturally, he shouldn't be able to read the language yet. Turns out he could read it just fine.

A voice came from the back. "Hey! What are you touching the goods for?! I hope you're prepared to buy it!"

Kuro Usagi dropped the small ribbon with a shriek.

"Are you not going to buy it?!" A bird-man shopkeeper with shifty eyes demanded as he stomped up to them.

"W-We're just looking!" Kuro Usagi quickly stammered.

A ghastly expression appeared on the shopkeeper's face. "Just…looking?!"

And then, before anyone could respond, the feathered shopkeeper had prostrated himself before them. "Please buy something! No one has purchased anything since this shop opened a year ago."

In the minds of all present, it was obvious why. With prices like these for such useless items, who would be dumb enough to buy from this shop? However, Asuka hadn't pointed out this shop just for a gift. It was supposed to be punishment. "How wonderful Uzumaki-san. The shopkeeper is even willing to sell."

Naruto shot her a peevish look. "But I don't have any money."

"Then you'll just have to find some, won't you?"

"Good luck."

Who were they trying to fool. He had no money. Heck, the only thing he could think of was taking the items and running for it.

He glanced at the panicking rabbit girl that was trying desperately to shake off the shopkeeper that had tightly wrapped himself around her legs. Wait, wasn't theft and robbery prohibited in this world? And in that same breath, didn't she mention that there was a method where you could take merchandise without payment?

"Gift Game!"

"What?!"

"I demand a gift game."

"Oh, there was that option," Asuka finally commented. She wasn't the only one who looked disappointed.

"Why are you challenging me to a gift game, youngster?"

A vein throbbed on Naruto's forehead. Youngster?! He quickly suppressed the impulse. "If I win, you'll let me have that ribbon for free."

"…"

The shopkeeper's shifty eyes became even narrower. "Are you trying to send me out of business? What community do you belong to?"

"We're the…" Naruto started to say, only to stop and turn toward Kuro Usagi. He saw her silently mouth something as a dark cloud formed over her head.

"…No Names!" he proudly repeated. Lip reading was such a useful skill.

Off to the side, Kuro Usagi suddenly arched upwards as if she had been shot by an arrow from behind.

The shopkeepers submissive mood suddenly flipped a complete 180. "Get lost!"

"What?! Hey! This is the part where you're supposed to accept."

"Get lost!" the shopkeeper repeated.

"What the hell man! What have you got against a game?"

"I refuse to deal with a No Name community, that's what. Get lost before I have you removed."

"Stop!" Asuka ordered. Because she didn't use her gift, neither party obeyed. In fact, it served to incense the quarreling members even more.

"Stay–" Naruto and the shopkeeper were about to tell the meddlesome third party to stay out of this. However, this didn't happen as Naruto found himself sprawled on the floor after being punched.

The violence stopped the argument right there. However, a new one sprung forth immediately.

"What the hell Izayoi!" Naruto shouted as he leapt to his feet and reared back to deliver his own justice.

"Hey hey. The lady is trying to speak," the delinquent wearing the headphones countered as he held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. His submissive expression would have been perfect if it weren't for that satisfied smirk on his face.

"Tch," Naruto clicked his tongue as he glared at Izayoi. His eyes were basically saying 'this isn't over.'

Izayoi had a defiant, 'bring it on' expression on his own face.

Asuka, not caring what the two men were up to, merely gave a brusque "Thank you," before she rounded on the shopkeeper. "You refuse to participate in a gift game with this fool?"

"Hey!"

"…yes."

"Not just him, but the rest of us as well?"

The shopkeeper nodded.

"Is it because we are part of a No Name community?"

The shopkeeper gave no response but it wasn't like Asuka was looking for one, his answer was obvious from the start.

"Could it be that you don't trust the No Names? Why not? Could it be our reputation? What if we had money?"

"Do you?" the shopkeeper challenged.

Instead of answering the question, Asuka calmly examined the back of her hand as if she were inspecting a manicure. "It's a shame," she continued. "You claim that you haven't had a buyer ever since you started. At first, I thought it was just because you charged a premium for shoddy goods. However, I'm starting to get the impression that it's also because you exercise your right to pick and choose your customers.

Her gaze sharpened. "I can't say that I disagree with your treatment of your customers. However, I refuse to stand by when such a mistreatment extends to me."

"I propose a different Gift Game then. If we win, you give us permission to shop at your store. If you win, we will leave without complaint and never darken your doorsteps.

"What makes you think that I can't just remove you right now?" the shopkeeper demanded.

"Are you…not confident? Are you afraid that you will lose? To members of a [No Name] community?"

"He's not going to accept. Look at him, he's a chicken!"

"Hey, take that back. Even chickens have their pride. If they heard you comparing them to this guy who looks like he'd run from the slightest challenge, they'd peck you to death."

"Oh, my bad. I apologize to the chickens."

"Fine," the salesman coldly grit out, "The game will be a coin toss."

"I accept. However…" Asuka immediately said before pointing to Naruto "Uzumaki-kun…"

"eh? Me?" Naruto stopped his horsing around with Izayoi to point at himself.

"…will take the challenge since it was his request in the first place," Asuka carelessly replied as she stepped back.

Along the way, she passed by and whispered. "I don't expect much, but do try and make sure that my efforts weren't wasted."

"Gotcha," Naruto said with a roguish grin as he stepped forward.

"Please wait a moment!" a blue-haired bunny suddenly called out before Naruto could announce that he was ready.

"Eh? Kuro Usagi? What's up?" Naruto asked as the bunny girl stepped into view, her hands free of the water tree sapling. It looks like she had set it aside.

The rabbit girl stopped midway between him and the shopkeeper. "Taking the role of [Judge Master], Kuro Usagi is now ready to referee the game."

With that, she snapped her fingers and a pair of [Geass Roll]'s appeared.

GIFT GAME NAME: "Coin Flip"

Participant(s): Naruto of the "No Names"

Competitor's side, Hoster of the game:

Moon Rabbit, [Highborn of Little Garden] – Kuro Usagi

Game Master: Lenny, Owner of "Le Petit Petit"

Defeat Condition(s):

Inability to meet the clearing condition

Detail of the Game Stage and Rules:

The coin must be acknowledged by the game master.

The coin cannot be substituted while the game is in progress.

The hoster picks the resulting side.

Only one play is allowed.

Clearing Condition(s):

Correctly guess the side of the coin facing up.

Oath: Respecting the described rules, the participants of the Gift Game are willing to bet the pride and flag of their community.

"Fores Garo" Seal

"Will you play?" the shopkeeper smugly asked. Certain rules in the Geass Roll gave the game master the advantage.

"Heh, of course," Naruto wasn't backing down.

"Please begin when you are ready," Kuro Usagi announced indicating that the game has been accepted.

"Alright. This will be the coin that we will use. It was a solid coin with a silver sheen and milled edges. Nothing particularly special."

Naruto didn't recognize the pattern on the front so he brought it up. "I'm new here so I haven't seen this kind of coin before. What side is that?"

"Heads. Which, incidentally, is the side that I will pick."

"That leaves me with tails. So what does tails look like?"

The shopkeeper had an odd expression on his face. One that was almost asking where the brat before him had been all these years if he didn't know what a coin looked like.

"It doesn't look like this," the shopkeeper answered, not bothering to flip the coin around so that Naruto could see the other side.

"Huh? S'that so? Flip whenever you're ready then."

PING

And then the coin was launched into the air with a flick. The game had started.

And what goes up, must come down. Only, as the coin was coming down, Naruto suddenly reached forward and…

PING

…with a flick of his thumb, he sent the coin soaring upwards once again.

Izayoi's eyes narrowed. There had been a flash of light when Naruto's thumb connected with the coin.

As for the coin, it went up…up…up…

…and then, for those who could still see it, there was a momentary spark above as the coin struck the veil surrounding Little Garden before it bounced in a wholly different direction and disappeared from view. That was when the audience's gaze returned to the sheepish-looking blond.

…

"What was the point of that?!"

"Ah, haha. The rules never said how long the coin was to remain in the air, and I thought it'd be kinda funny."

The looks on their faces suggested that no one was amused.

Asuka grumbled something like idiot jokers wasting my time.

"You guys are no fun," Naruto sulked.

"So what now?" Izayoi asked.

"It looks like the coin is lost," You calmly pointed out.

As if to answer both of their concerns, Kuro Usagi removed the hand that she had cupped in front of her left ear. "The result is…tails."

"Eh?!"

"I-Impossible! How can this be, it was a two-headed coin."

Asuka immediately pounced. "Two-headed coin?! Isn't that cheating?"

"To stoop so low," You added.

"It was a coin that I acknowledged and that you agreed with when you accepted the game. Now tell me this, how can a two-headed coin become tails. It's impossible, right? You must be lying somehow. Some judge you are, conspiring with your community."

How rude, as a member of those who are considered the [Highborn of Little Garden], Kuro Usagi's eyes and ears are connected to the center of Little Garden. Even if I belong to the [No Names], please know that by using the privileges of a [Judge Master] to administer this game I become an impartial third party that cannot influence the final outcome of the Game. In this case, the participant has successfully overcome the host master's challenge. Are you questioning the determination of [Little Garden] itself?

"Gnnnn….Get out!" Because he was kicking them out for a different reason other than their community, the compelling effect of the Geass did not kick in.

"Fine! I didn't want anything from here anyway!" Naruto griped as he stomped away.

The others soon followed as a group, with Kuro Usagi once again carefully hugging the water tree sapling.

Asuka was the last one to leave. Before she left, she turned toward the glowering shopkeeper. "A dishonest businessman like yourself has no right to remain in business. It's a fitting loss, don't you think?"

"Wait."

But Asuka ignored him as she rejoined the others standing at the boundaries just outside of the shop.

"After that unwelcome distraction, we really need to get going if we want to make it on time," Kuro Usagi huffed. She was still ticked about being accused of a bad judgment. "If you have any questions, I will gladly answer them on the way."

No one argued and, with Kuro Usagi leading the way, the group set out.

"That shopkeeper needs to have his eyes checked. Two-headed coin, honestly? One side was obviously tails," Asuka grumbled to You, to which she received a nod of agreement.

However, one member of the group thought differently. While the group walked, Izayoi slowed down so that Naruto could catch up.

"It was a two-headed coin."

"It was," Naruto agreed.

"You did something."

"I put a hole in the center of the coin," the other blond admitted.

"Ahh…"

That answered it. Before the match had started, Naruto had asked about what tails had looked like. The shopkeeper had replied that it wouldn't look like heads.

This was the loophole that Naruto exploited. By putting a hole through the center, Naruto had changed the appearance. If you had looked at the coin now you would see a new kind of side, "heads with a hole". Since that didn't look exactly like the heads that the shopkeeper had shown them then, as claimed, it became a tail side. And since the hole reached right to the other side, that side too had become "heads with a hole".

In one stroke, Naruto had turned a two headed coin into a two tailed coin. It didn't matter which side the coin landed on, it was going to be tails.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Jin was the first to speak. "Kuro Usagi, this isn't the way back to the Community. And we passed the restaurant where we made that reservation."

Asuka perked up. "Reservation?"

Kuro Usagi seemed a bit abashed. Truthfully…we had a booking at a wonderful restaurant and various other things set up to welcome you all but due to an unforeseen incident, we'll have to cancel those for today. We'll welcome you properly at a later date."

"It's fine, you don't have to push yourselves. Our Community is already in a critical state, right?"

The surprised Kuro Usagi stopped and looked to Jin without a moment's delay. His apologetic face told her that the girls knew about their community's dire circumstances as well. Red up to her rabbit ears, Kuro Usagi lowered her head bashfully. "M-my apologies. I felt awkward deceiving you all but. Kuro Usagi and the rest were also desperate."

"It's fine already. I don't care about the level of the group. How about Kasukabe-san?" Kuro Usagi timidly peeked at You's face. You shook her head indifferently.

"I'm not angry either. To begin with, I don't really care about what the Community is like...ah, there is one thing." Seeming like she just remembered something, You muttered hesitantly.

"Please ask without restraint. If it is within our power, then it is the least we could do."

"I-it's nothing major. It's just that I thought it would be great if I could have three meals a day, a bath and a place to sleep." Jin's facial expression froze.

To obtain water in Little Garden, one had to either buy it or draw it from the large river several kilometers away. On this plot of land that made securing water difficult, a bath was a first-class luxury. Surmising that, You was about to hastily retract her words, when Kuro Usagi joyfully presented the water tree she was holding.

"If that's all, then it's fine! Izayoi-san obtained a water tree sapling this large! With this, we don't have to buy water and the canal will be rev-" Her beaming face slowly turned complicated.

"Ah!" Kuro Usagi suddenly cried out as she just remembered something. The water tree sapling had reminded the rabbit girl about what had started this conversion started in the first place. "Jin-bocchan, I'm sorry. Can you return first without us? I wanted to get everyone's gifts appraised by [Thousand Eyes] before the Game tomorrow. There's also the matter of this water tree."

"[Thousand Eyes]? Is that a Community's name?"

"Yes. Thousand Eyes is an aggregation of communities that each possesses a special kind of Eye. It is a massive mercantile Community that is well-informed about every corner of Little Garden, both the Upper Echelons and the Lower Levels. Fortunately, there is a branch store nearby." Kuro Usagi stated.

"What is this about the appraisal of Gifts?"

"Of course, that would be about their hidden powers or origins. If you have a correct understanding of your ability, you can further draw out its power. You're all curious about the origin of your abilities, right?"

The conversation stopped right there with everyone involved taking a different, but no less complicated, expression to Kuro Usagi's question.

Pelibed Road, which led to the shop, was made of stone and the trees alongside it were scattering pink flowers as buds and new leaves were beginning to grow.

The group quickly made their way through the tree-lined street lit by dusk and the city's lamps.

"Are these cherry blossoms? Their petals are different and they shouldn't be blooming in midsummer," Asuka murmured in amazement.

"No, it's still early summer. It's not strange that there are some lively cherry blossoms left," Izayoi pointed out.

"Was it summer?" Naruto asked with a bit of confusion. Seasons tended to blend together when you travel wherever your whims take you.

"I thought it was autumn?" You added.

"Hm?" And the four who were out of sync exchanged glances and tilted their heads.

Kuro Usagi smiled and explained. "Each of you were summoned from a separate world. Outside of your original time axis, the history, culture and the ecosystem as well as some other things will be different."

"Ohh? You mean parallel worlds?" Asuka questioned.

"That's close. The true term would be the Ring of Intersecting Concurrent Worlds, but if I were to start explaining that now, it would take more than a day or two, so we'll leave it for another opportunity." As she said this in an ambiguous manner, Kuro Usagi stopped and turned towards them. It seemed that they had arrived.

On the shop's banner, two goddesses depicted facing each other on the blue cloth. That was probably the 'Thousand Eyes' banner. If one looked at the front entrance, various rare masterpieces were lined up behind a show window.

However…it looked like the main entrance's sliding doors were shut tight.

"Eh?"

Kuro Usagi stepped forward so that she could examine the door more closely. However, there was no mistake.

"Locked?! Are they closed already?"

"What do I do? What do I do?! The Game is tomorrow." Using her free hand, she reached up and began rapping her knuckle on the door. The sliding doors rattled in their frame.

"Hello?!"

Knock knock.

"Anyone in there?"

Knock knock knock.

When no response came, Kuro Usagi looked helplessly toward the others.

"It doesn't look like anyone is inside?" Naruto helpfully offered not knowing if it were true or not.

Unable to accept this conclusion, Kuro Usagi turned back toward the door to knock again only to shriek and jump back in surprise at seeing the head poking out from between the doors.

"We have been expecting you," the head suddenly spoke up, a sullen expression on its face.

"You have?"

"Don't know," the clerk said with a shrug.

"Eh?" Was this lady serious?

"I was told to receive a "beloved moon rabbit who is a [Highborn of Little Garden] and her friends."

"I am that rabbit," Kuro Usagi proudly answered.

"Yes, you are indeed a rabbit," the clerk deadpanned. But she made no move to receive them. Instead she had something else to say. "However, my orders are to let in a rabbit belonging to a [No Name] community.

"That would be me," the rabbit girl confusedly answered.

"I'm sorry dear customer, I didn't hear the name of your community. Could you please tell?"

"We're a [No Name] community," the rabbit looked like she had swallowed a bitter lemon as she said this.

"I see, can you allow me to confirm your banner, dear customer?"

As a No Name community, they would not be in possession of a banner. It was obvious by now that the salesclerk was being unnecessarily harsh.

"We don't have a banner."

"No banner? So am I correct in assuming that your lack of a banner is because you are a [No Name] community?

"…"

"I'm sorry, could you speak up dear customer?"

"…Yes"

It appears that you are displeased with these questions. Please understand. I have been ordered to allow a [rabbit] belonging to a [No Name] community to enter. For the sake of my job, I must perform a thorough check to verify your identities. So far I have verified that you are members of a [No Name] community. Now I nee– "

"This farce has gone on long enough don't you think? You know who we are. Are you going to let us in or not?" Asuka impatiently demanded.

The salesclerk stared at them for one long moment before she slid one of the main doors open.

"…Please remember that any sign of trouble and you will be thrown out and banned from the premises. As [No Names], you have been granted a great honor in being allowed to enter this establishment."

Okay, now she was just rubbing it in.

"With that said, beloved rabbit of the [NO NAME] community. You are expected. Now hurry up and enter so that I may finally close the shop."

Kuro Usagi was the last to enter. From her appearance, it looked like she took heavy damage from that interrogation.

"…yes."

Once inside, the five were led across an unnaturally wide Japanese style courtyard and onto an open corridor. They stopped in front of a closed sliding paper door.

"Please wait here in the corridor. Shiroyasha-sama will be arriving momentarily, after which, she will take you inside her room."

No sooner had the salesclerk said this when…

Thump thump thump

A series of footsteps came from inside and the door shot open with a clack.

"Yaaaahoooooooo! It's been a while, Kuro Usagiiiiii!"

Before anyone could respond, a pure white-haired girl in kimono-like attire shot out from the room and hugged the rabbit girl.

Although a better explanation would be that she latched onto and hula hooped around the bunny girl's waist three times before finding herself in a good position to bury herself in Kuro Usagi's bountiful chest.

"Shi-Shiroyasha-sama!? Why are you here at such a low level!?" Kuro Usagi yelled in shock while completely flustered.

"Obviously because I had a premonition that Kuro Usagi would be coming by around now! Fufu, fuhohofuhoho! The sensation of touching a rabbit is truly different! Come now, does it feel good here, or here!" the now named Shiroyasha was giggling pervertedly.

Fondle, fondle, fondle, fondle.

"Shi-Shiroyasha-sama! Pl-Please let go of me!" Tearing off the girl called Shiroyasha by force, she gripped her head and threw her away.

Unfortunately, Naruto just happened to be in the path of the outgoing projectile.

"Guwah!" Naruto cried out as the white-haired loli basically springboarded off of his face. He found himself staggering backward until his back hit a wall while his assailant landed safely and easily.

Asuka, who had been dumbfounded by the chain of events, recollected herself now that things seemed to calm down a little. "Are you from this store?" she asked as she turned toward Shiroyasha.

"Ohh, that's right. I am Shiroyasha-sama, the leader of [Thousand Eyes], young lady. If it's a job-related request, then I will take care of it for one touch of that comparatively well-developed chest." Shiroyasha said while her hands were swaying in groping motion.

"Owner. We won't profit like that. The boss will get angry." With her ever-calm voice, the female clerk shot down Shiroyasha's whim.

"Fufun. So you're Kuro Usagi's new companions. That people from another world have finally come before me means…" she paused for dramatic effect, "…Kuro Usagi will finally come to my bed."

"No, it doesn't! That will never happen, no matter what!" Kuro Usagi's rabbit ears stood on end in her anger.

Shiroyasha, whose degree of seriousness for that last statement couldn't be ascertained, had a large smile as she invited them into the room she had appeared from.

"Someday Kuro Usagi, you will be mine. However, it looks like you have some business that I can take care of. Since the shop is closed right now, I will have to entertain you in my room. Please enter."

Behind the sliding paper doors, the room the four were invited to had things like burning incense. The smell, which was carried on the wind, titillated their noses.

Shiroyasha, who sat at the seat of honor in this room which was somewhat wide for a private room, stretched greatly and then turned to face Naruto and the others. "I'll introduce myself once again. I am Shiroyasha, the leader of the Thousand Eyes which is based at the fourth gate, number 3345. I have a little history with Kuro Usagi over there. I'd like you to think of me as a beautiful girl that has been helping out frequently ever since the collapse of her Community."

"Yes, yes, we've truly been in your care." Kuro Usagi warded off the casual words.

Beside her, You tilted her head and asked. "What is that gate thing?"

"It is the gate on the outer wall that exists to indicate Little Garden's levels. As the number becomes lower, the strength of those living there increases." This place, Little Garden, was split into seven levels from the upper levels to the lower ones, and a number was assigned to each gate which served to divide those. Counting from the outer wall, there was the seventh gate, the sixth, and as one went further in, the number would decrease accompanied by an increase in strength. Once one made it to the fourth gate, fighting gods would be defending so it was a demonic place outside the realm of humans. The sky view map of Little Garden that Kuro Usagi drew was split into many multiple layers by the gates.

"An extremely large onion?" Asuka questioned.

"No, wouldn't it be an extremely large baumkuchen?" You replied with a tilt of her head. A baumkuchen was a ring-shaped layered cake prepared in such a way that, when cut crosswise afterwards and the top part removed, one would get the impression of tree rings.

"That's true. If I had to say which, it would be a baumkuchen." The four nodded in agreement.

Kuro Usagi's shoulders sank in response to their blunt thoughts. On the other hand, Shiroyasha was roaring with laughter as she nodded over and over.

"Fufu, that's a good comparison. If we were to use that, then the seven gates would be at the thinnest layer of the baumkuchen. While we're at it, just outside the eastern gate is a place overlooking the Edge of the World. Those living there don't belong to a community and are possessors of powerful Gifts, like the owner of that water tree." Shiroyasha laughed lightly and looked towards the water tree sapling that Kuro Usagi was holding.

What Shiroyasha was indicating was the snake god that was living at Tritonis Waterfall. "So saying, just who won and in what kind of game? A competition of knowledge? A test of courage?" she asked.

"No, no. Izayoi beat that snake god-sama barehanded before coming here." Kuro Usagi proudly announced.

Shiroyasha was shocked. "What!? He didn't clear a game, but instead beat him head on!? Then that child is a prodigy carrying Divinity?"

"No, I don't think so. Since you would be able to tell with just one glance." Kuro Usagi replied.

"Mu, that's true. But one should only be able to defeat divinity if one possesses the same Divinity or the power balance between their races has collapsed. If we're comparing the strengths between races, a human is like an acorn to a snake." Divinity didn't mean that of a natural-born god, but indicated a Gift that transformed the body into one of the highest rank.

If a snake was granted Divinity, it would become a giant snake god.

If a human was granted Divinity, he or she would become a living god or a prodigy.

If an ogre was granted Divinity, it would become a fierce god able to shake heaven and earth.

Also, Divinity would increase the strength of other Gifts. A great deal of the Communities in Little Garden had obtaining divinity as a primary aim in order to fulfill their goals, so they were amassing power, aiming at the higher levels.

"Shiroyasha-sama, were you acquainted with that snake god?" You asked.

"Not just an acquaintance or whatever; the one who granted him Divinity was me. Though that's a story from some hundred years ago." Puffing out her small chest, Shiroyasha laughed heartily.

But hearing that, Izayoi's eyes flashed dangerously as he posed a question. "Ohh? Then you're stronger than that snake?"

"Fufun, of course. I'm the eastern Floor Master. There is nobody that can compare with me out of the Communities at the eastern fourth gate and those underneath, since I'm the strongest Host." Shiroyasha puffed her chest in pride.

Strongest Host these words made the eyes of Izayoi, Asuka and You sparkle simultaneously though Naruto was groaning in irritation.

"Yes, fufu. That is to say, if we were to clear your game, our Community would become the strongest in the east?" Asuka asked with excitement in her voice.

"Of course, that's what it means." Replied Shiroyasha.

"That sounds great. It saves us time." The three looked at Shiroyasha with their fighting spirit bared. Shiroyasha seemed to realize that as she gave a high-pitched laugh.

"What shrewd children. While making a request, they challenge me to a Gift Game? How about you boya? Are you in?" Shiroyasha addressed Naruto. Naruto merely gave her an interested look and a shrug.

"Eh? W, wait, you three!?" Shiroyasha held back the flustered Kuro Usagi with her right hand. "It's fine, Kuro Usagi. I've also been constantly thirsting for someone to play with."

"You're quick on the uptake. I like that," Izayoi said, taking the lead.

Shiroyasha hid her amused smile behind her fan. "Fufu, I see. However, there's one thing I'd like to confirm before the game."

"What is it?"

With her free hand, Shiroyasha drew out from her kimono's sleeve the Thousand Eyes banner emblem a card with the goddesses turned towards each other, and said one thing with a fierce and gallant smile, "Is what you desire a Challenge or possibly a Duel?" In an instant, an explosive change happened in the three's vision.

Their sight lost meaning and various scenes began to revolve in their minds. What flickered in their minds was a swaying field of golden grains. A white hill peeking out from the horizon. A forest's lake shore. The places they had no memory of repeated in flux and devoured them starting from their feet. The place they were thrown into had a snowy field and frozen lake a world where the sun went around horizontally as well.

"...Wha...!?" The three gulped at the excessive abnormality and Naruto was gaping with his eyes wide open in shock. The sensation was completely different from the time they had been summoned to Little Garden; it was already a work of god inexpressible through words. There was a single star in the distant twilight sky. Slowly revolving horizontally around the world, just that one white sun. In the opposite direction of the sun, cutting the skies like a scythe, was a glowing crescent moon. It was as if a miraculous power had decided to create one star and one world.

Shiroyasha once again asked the four who were rooted to the spot in blank amazement. "I will rename myself and ask once again. I am the Demon Lord of the White Night the celestial spirit of the sun and the white night, Shiroyasha. Is what you desire to Challenge a trial? Or an equal-footed Duel?"

Demon Lord Shiroyasha. The three gulped once again at the ghastliness that was unthinkable for a girl's smile while Naruto was licking his lips in aticipation. Celestial Spirits refer to the master spirits that reside on stars of at least the size of a planet. They are a species of the highest class, such as fairies, demons, devils and so on, and they are also on the Bestowing Side of Gifts.

Izayoi focused on Shiroyasha and smiled while taking in the pleasant sensation of cold sweat on his back he never felt like this before since when he fought Naruto. "A sun that revolves around horizontally and...I see, white night and yasha. You're representing yourself."

"Indeed. This white night's lake shore and snowy field. The sun that forever casts twilight over this land, they are but one of the Game Boards I have." Shiroyasha spread her hands and the sea of clouds at the distant horizon split in the blink of an eye, revealing the twilight sun.

The White Night celestial spirit. The white night that Izayoi had indicated was something which could be seen in the Scandinavian countries located within specific latitudes, such as Finland and Norway, where the sun would not sink. And then the Night Demon part identified a divine spirit of water and earth as well as a fierce god with the constitution of an evil god. In Little Garden which had assembled a great multitude of fighting gods, a mix of the strongest and renown Celestial Spirits and Divine Spirits. She was completely at a level where one could even call her representative of Little Garden a powerful Demon Lord.

"This vast land is just a Game Board!?" Asuka yelled in shock.

"Indeed. And so-"

"Is this another world? Whatever happens here isn't going to affect Little Garden?"

"It would do you well to respectfully listen as your elders are speaking, boya. But to answer your question, yes this is merely a game board of my own making. I can destroy it and remake it as I please. And once we leave, you will see that whatever happens here will not have affected Little Garden in the slightest. How about it, are you impressed?"

"Is that the moon?" Naruto excitedly asked, as he pointed toward the crescent shaped object. "Isn't that the moon over there? Is it real?"

"You're a noisy one, aren't you. Yes it's real. Now quit it with the questions unless you wish to see a personal demonstration of the destruction of this game board."

Naruto opened his mouth to say something else when a hand clamped right over it. "I'll keep him quiet Shiroyasha-sama," Kuro Usagi squeaked out.

"Good, now then, before I was so rudely interrupted. I would like to hear your reply. If it's a Challenge, I'll play around with you at the level of entertainment. However, if it is a Duel you seek, then that's a different story. As a Demon Lord, there would be no way but to fight to the limits of my life and pride."

"..." Asuka and You, and even the confident Izayoi, hesitated and didn't give an immediate reply. They were not sure what Shiroyasha's Gift was. But it was obvious with one glance that there was not a hope of winning. But their pride would not allow them to back down from a fight that they had sold.

After the short-lived silence seeming like he'd given up, Izayoi smiled and raised his hands up slowly and, "I give. I've been had. It's a surrender, Shiroyasha."

"Fumu? Does that mean you're not choosing a duel but a challenge?" Shiroyasha asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. Since you can prepare a Game Board such as this. You have the capabilities. -Fine then. I'll stay silent this time and let you test me, Great Demon Lord." In response to Izayoi who smiled wryly and spat those words out, Shiroyasha laughed uncontrollably and loudly. Perhaps that was the greatest concession that the prideful Izayoi could make, but 'let you test me' was such an adorable way to be obstinate, so Shiroyasha laughed loudly while holding her stomach.

After laughing for a while, Shiroyasha suppressed her laughter and asked the other three. "Ku, kuku, so how about you children?"

"Yes. It's fine if you test me."

"Same as to my right." The two answered with extremely sour expressions. Shiroyasha let out a sound of satisfaction.

Kuro Usagi, who had been watching the sequence of events in suspense, placed her hand on her chest and heaved a sigh of relief. "You guys, please choose your oppo-"

Unfortunately, that hand happened to be covering a certain someone's mouth just moments ago.

"I want to accept the duel," In eerie synchronization, the group turned as one toward the speaker, Naruto.

"You do?" Shiroyasha asked as she looked Naruto up and down. She didn't see anything particularly special about him.

"Yup."

"Ah, then I'd like to go after him," Izayoi added.

"Refused!" Kuro Usagi shot back. Izayoi was too important to throw his life away.

"Huh?" Since when did the rabbit stop being timid and polite?

"Refused!" Kuro Usagi snarled as her hair flared reddish pink. She was fully prepared to end this physically if necessary.

"Che," it sounded troublesome having to go through this rabbit before going after the big fish.

Naruto and Shiroyasha ignored the going ons occurring in the background as they sized each other up.

"I hope you understand what you are getting yourself into," Shiroyasha calmly said as she started to flare her power. It soon felt stifling even though they were in the standing in the middle of an arctic tundra.

"I'd like to think so," Naruto calmly stood there, easily withstanding the power brushing against him in massive waves like a tsunami.

Shiroyasha had to raise her estimates of him when he didn't break just from that. "Answer me this. Of the four, you were the only one that wasn't invited.

"I wasn't?" He asked, his tone implying that he thought differently. It was a calculated lie. He knew that she was telling the truth, but he had to wonder how she knew when Kuro Usagi hadn't said anything about it yet.

"It's highly possible that you were close enough to one of the children to be pulled along for the ride. If that is the case, unlike them you would not possess a gift of any real worth. So why are you so confident? Is your confidence…fake perhaps?"

"I wonder…"

"The other possibility is that you broke into Little Garden yourself. But the gift required would be particularly special or particularly powerful and yet, I don't see anything special about you that would imply either case. Your courage is commendable I suppose, but you look like a fool to me. So then, option A or option B. Which is it?"

Naruto just shrugged.

"Hummm? Will you at least show me something entertaining before you die?"

Naruto had to grin at that, "Yeah."

And then the aura of power disappeared allowing the rest of the bystanders to breathe. "Very well then I, Shiroyasha, shall fight you as a Demon Lord."

Kuro Usagi was the first to react. "What!? No! Naruto-kun! There is no way that you can win! Take it back! Take it back and accept the challenge!"

"Don't worry, don't worry. I know what I'm doing," Naruto casually waved off.

"Kuro Usagi," Shiroyasha snapped warningly, "The challenge has been issued and accepted. Don't interfere."

The bunny girl fell silent.

"But before we start our duel, I will issue their challenge first. Is that all right?" Shiroyasha asked.

"Take all the time that you need," Naruto casually said before he looked up at the crescent moon, a distant look appearing in his eyes.

"Nooo" Kuro Usagi cried inside. They needed everyone that they could get in order to restore their Community to its original glory.

As for the others, they pretended that it had nothing to do with them. Except for Izayoi, it's not like they knew him well. If he wanted to throw his life away, it was his choice.

"Please wait a moment for your test to arrive. Now then, I wonder who will come?" Shiroyasha smiled mischievously.

At that moment, they heard a shrill cry come from the mountain range in the distance. The first one to react to that cry that could be thought to have come from a beast or wild bird was Kasukabe You. "What was that cry just now? It's the first time I've heard it."

"Fumu...him, huh. He may be most suitable to test you three." Shiroyasha occasionally beckoned towards the mountain range that laid on the other side of the lake shore. In so doing, a large beast with a body length of around 5 metres spread its wings and glided, arriving before the three like the wind.

Seeing the beast with the wings of an eagle and the lower body of a lion, Kasukabe You raised a voice filled with shock and delight. "A gryphon...no way, a real one!?"

"Fufun, indeed. He is the king of birds and king of beasts. Embodying [Power], [Wisdom] and [Courage], a beast that represents the Gift Games."

Shiroyasha beckoned him. The gryphon landed in front of her and lowered its head deeply in respect. "Now comes the main point of the trial. I will test you in [Power], [Wisdom] and [Courage] with this gryphon; I'll make it so you clear it if you can circle the lake shore while riding him."

Shiroyasha took out the card with the crest of the goddesses facing each other. Doing so, the parchment only permitted for [Host Masters] appeared from thin air.

GIFT GAME NAME: "Gryphon's Reins"

List of Participant(s):

*Sakamaki Izayoi

*Kudou Asuka

*Kasukabe You

Clearing Condition(s):

*Circle the lake shore astride the gryphon

Clearing Method(s):

* Gain the gryphon's approval in [Power], [Wisdom] and [Courage]

Defeat Condition(s):

*Forfeiting or the Player does not fulfill the above victory condition

Oath: Respecting the above, under the pride, banner and Host Master's name, the Gift Game shall commence.

"I'll do it." Before the end of the reading or any utterances, You had raised her hand such that even her fingertips were straight up. She was gazing at the gryphon with envious eyes. It was an unusually heated look for her who was generally docile.

"O-Ojou. will you be fine? It's far scarier and bigger than an alphamale lion," Calico Cat timidly pointed out.

"I'm fine, there's no problem." You replied with a tense smile.

"Fumu. It seems you're quite confident, but this is fairly difficult, you know? If you fail, it won't end with just a grave injury." Shiroyasha stated.

"I'm fine, there's no problem. You's eyes faced the gryphon directly. Those eyes were shining like those of a child who had just found a treasure they'd been continuously searching for. Izayoi and Asuka, who were standing beside her, seemed to be surprised as they smiled wryly.

"OK, I'll let you take it. Don't fail." Izayoi said with a nod.

"Be careful, Kasukabe-san." Asuka regarded her in worry.

"Yeah. I'll do my best." She nodded to the other two and ran up to the gryphon.

But the gryphon spread its large wings and moved from that spot. It was likely so Shiroyasha wouldn't get caught in the battle when it started. Kasukabe You chased after the gryphon that was spreading its wings and letting its eyes shine as if to intimidate her. She stopped several meters away from the gryphon and observed it fixedly.

'Amazing. It really has the upper body of an eagle and the lower body of a lion.' Eagle and lion. The king of the birds of prey and the king of carnivores. She had communicated with the hearts of many animals until now, but that was only limited to those living on Earth.

This was her first time confronting what were known as imaginary beasts.

"U, umm. Nice to meet you, I am Kasukabe You." You stated with a gentle smile sent towards the gryphon.

"!?" Twitch! and the gryphon jumped. The wariness in its eyes thinned and a faint amount of bewilderment rose in them. This proved that her Gift was effective on imaginary beasts.

"Ohh...that girl's communicating with the gryphon, huh." Shiroyasha spread her folding fan in admiration. There were two methods to ride on the back of the gryphon which was the king of two species. One was to best them in power or wisdom. This was the method where one rode on their back until they yielded. The second method was to make it acknowledge one's spirit. This was the method where one straddled them to be recognized by them, the prideful kings with high pride. Whichever method Kasukabe chose, being able to converse might allow her to further the negotiations in her favor. Kasukabe You took a deep breath and made her statement in one go.

"Won't you allow me to ride on your back...and have a battle with your pride on the line with me?" You asked.

"...What...!?" Fighting spirit swelled within the gryphon's voice and eyes. To they who possessed noble mindsets, having their "pride on the line" indicated a challenge whose result was of the utmost importance.

Kasukabe You continued the negotiations without waiting for a reply. "You came flying from that mountain range. We'll start from the ground and detour clockwise around there, setting the final destination to be here. You'll run through the sky with your strong wings and legs, and if you throw me off before the lake shore, it's your win. If I'm still riding, then it's my win...how about it?" You tilted her head. Certainly, both power and courage could be tested under those conditions.

But the gryphon cooed largely in suspicion and pompously asked a question in return. "Miss. You have proposed to [wager my pride]. As you have said, my honor would be tainted. But, miss. What will you bet in exchange for my pride?"

"I'll bet my life." It was an immediate response.

Voices of surprise came from Kuro Usagi and Asuka at the extremely wild reply.

"Y-you can't!"

"Ka-Kasukabe-san!? Are you serious!?"

"You will bet your pride. I will bet my life. If I fall off and survive, I will become your dinner. is that good enough?" You said while ignoring the two protestant in the back.

"...Fumu..."

Kuro Usagi and Asuka grew increasingly panicked at You's suggestion. Shiroyasha and Izayoi held that back with stern voices.

"Both of you, back down. This is a trial she proposed herself." Shiroyasha stated with a firm expression. "Kuro Usagi, one more time and I am afraid that I will have to keep you outside while I finish playing with these four."

"Yeah, stop with the unsighly stuff."

Naruto blinked and peered over for a moment before he returned his staring contest with the moon.

"It's not that kind of problem! Letting a comrade participate in this kind of disadvantageous Game-" Asuka was about to finish when she was cut off by You.

"I'll be fine." Kasukabe nodded at Asuka and Kuro Usagi as she looked over. There was not a shred of fighting spirit in those eyes. Rather, it was an expression that didn't seem to have a chance of victory.

After the gryphon pondered for a little while, it lowered its head and prompting her to ride upon its back. "You may ride, brave young one. Test whether you can withstand the dash of a gryphon with that body of yours."

You nodded, grabbing a hold of the reins and climbing onto its back. There was no saddle so she was a little unsettled, but You gripped the reins tightly and flattened herself upon the gryphon.

You slowly stroked the gryphon's strong and smooth body. "I'll say one thing before we start... it was one of my dreams to ride upon your back," she muttered as if satisfied.

"….I see." Just what was she running her mouth off about before a decisive battle. The gryphon smiled wryly and flapped its wings three times out of embarrassment. As soon as it leaned its body forward, it kicked off the ground and flew into the twilight sky.

'Wah...!'

Several metres above the ground. The gryphon's eagle wings remained spread out. The surprising thing was that the gryphon was not propelling itself forward with its wings. Kasukabe You, who realized that immediately, let out an unsuppressed voice of wonder even as she suffered intense pressure bearing down on her. "Amazing! You're running through the sky!"

Its sharp eagle talons seemed to take hold of the wind. What was supporting its large body was not its wings. It was using a Gift that manipulated whirlwinds to dash through the sky. Yes. One might be led by the size to think that their wings could support their body weight which could reach several tons, but wings that would be many times their size and propulsion would be necessary. These wings were proof that their ecosystem was removed from normal evolution. Ignoring kinetic laws and running through the air like that was truly deserving of the name of an [Imaginary Beast].

"Miss. We will be arriving at the mountain range shortly but...are you sure? If we head towards the mountains at this speed"

"Yeah. The freezing air has become even colder; it seems to be around minus ten degrees." After passing the forest and before reaching the mountain range, the gryphon lessened its speed. The world of the white night was usually cold. That was without even riding on a gryphon's back as it dashed like a gale. The shockwaves and temperature were not something a human could withstand. This was the ultimatum spawned from the gryphon's conscience. These were words spoken while thinking of You's straight-forward attitude. But Kasukabe You smiled faintly and returned a provocation in exchange. "I'm fine. Rather than that, is this okay? You should get serious. Or I'll actually win?"

"...Very well. Don't regret this, miss!"

The atmosphere shook in the next moment. Now it was utilizing its wings to manipulate whirlwinds. The mountain summit that should have been far in the distance was closing in fast. If she were to look down, she would be able to see the glacier breaking from the shockwaves. Amidst the shockwaves that seemed like they would crush a human instantly, Kasukabe You was gritting her teeth and enduring. Hearing the faint deep breathing on its back, an emotion that was a mix of wonder and bewilderment welled up inside the gryphon. Such pressure. Such cold. The endurance that she was displaying to withstand this was not something a girl had.

'I see...so you have a suitable miracle within you...! The gryphon revealed a wry smile. He hadn't known.

Because of his achievement against the snake god, many tended to forget that Izayoi wasn't the only one that possessed a top class Gift of humanity.

When the gryphon went into a nose dive from the summit, its speed just about doubled. The instant it realized that there was no need to hold back, the gryphon mixed in rotating, trying to shake Kasukabe You off. It was useless to cling to the saddle-less eagle back. Only the reins could be held onto, so her lower body swam in midair as if it had been abandoned.

"...!"

As expected, she couldn't crack jokes anymore. You gripped the reins with all her strength and the gryphon rotated with all its strength in order to throw her off. It nosedived until just before the ground, then swung itself to become parallel to the ground. That was the final turning point. The cold winds from the mountains had stopped and the final part was purely distance.

The gryphon had dashed to the middle of the lake with vigor just like that. The moment Kasukabe You's victory was decided, Kasukabe You's hands released the reins.

"What!?" the gryphon cried in shock

"Kasukabe-san!?" Asuka and Kuro Usagi yelled in fear.

There was no time to sigh in relief or offer praise. Kasukabe You's petite body danced like it had been blown away by a squall and shot forward from the inertia. Kuro Usagi's hand which was moving to help was grabbed by Izayoi. "L, let go-"

"No! It's not over yet!" Izayoi stopped the impatient Kuro Usagi.

But within Kasukabe You's mind, all of the surrounding presences had completely disappeared. There was but a single thing left in her mind: the feeling of dashing through the sky from just now. 'With the limbs...take hold of the wind and step on the air-!' Kasukabe You's body flipped over with a fwoosh. Sluggish movements that seemed to erase her inertia had already decreased her falling speed, and without touching the lake shore, she flew.

"...Wha" Everyone there was rendered speechless. It was to be expected. Kasukabe You, who hadn't shown that kind of expression until now, floated above the lake shore, wrapped in the wind.

The one who approached Kasukabe You, who was flying there with inexperienced movements like those of swimming, was Izayoi who had a smile on like he was surprised. "As I thought. Your Gift is the type that allows you to obtain the specialties of other living creatures."

You's response to the frivolous smile was sullen. "..That's wrong. This is the proof that we've become friends. But since when did you know?"

"It was just a guess. When we met Kuro Usagi, you said [I'd know if they're upwind]. That's not something a human can do. That's why your Gift isn't talking with animals, but grants the Gifts of other species. That's what I inferred, but it looks like that's not all. Is there anything on Earth that can withstand that speed?"

She turned away to dodge Izayoi's deeply interested gaze. The one who rushed up beside them in an instant was the calico cat.

The calico cat that rode upon her shoulder asked You worriedly with a shaky voice. "Ojou! Are you hurt!?"

"No, I'm fine. It's only that my fingers are numb and my clothes are wrinkled." She gently petted the calico cat that came over. Opposite that, Shiroyasha was clapping and the gryphon was looking over with admiration.

"Splendid. I would like you to use the Gift you received as proof of your victory over me."

"Yeah. I'll treasure it." You replied gratefully.

"Oh my, you've done well. This Game is your win. By the way, I'd like to ask about your Gift. Is it inherited?" Shiroyasha asked with interest.

"That's not it. It's thanks to the wood carving I received from my father that I became able to communicate." You replied with a fond smile remembering her father.

"Wood carving?" Shiroyasha tilted her head in confusion.

The calico cat explained for Shiroyasha who tilted her head. "Ojou's father was from a carving family. Ojou is able to speak with us through her father's craft."

"Hoho...a carver father. Could I take a look at that wooden carving?" You nodded and took out the round wooden carving that had been made into a pendant.

Shiroyasha looked upon the large, flat wooden carving that she had been handed and suddenly frowned. Asuka and Izayoi also peeked at the wooden carving from beside her while Naruto was looking at the wood in shock since that looks like one of his mokuton three's.

"It's a complex design. Is there a meaning behind it?" Shoriyasha asked.

"There's a meaning, but I don't know it. I was told it a long time ago, but I've forgotten."

"…This is…" Not just Shiroyasha, but Izayoi, Naruto and Kuro Usagi also had docile expressions as they participated in the appraisal. They flipped it over many times and traced the geometric outline that was on the front. Kuro Usagi tilted her head and asked You. "The material is a sacred camphor tree? It doesn't seem to have leftover Divinity but this geometric outline that converges towards the center..and this blank space at the center...did your father have a biologist acquaintance?"

"Yeah. My mother was one." You answered.

"A biologist would mean that this really is showing a genealogical tree, Shiroyasha?" Naruto asked while staring intently at the wooden carving.

"Most likely. then this figure is like this. and the convergence of this circle is…no, this is…this is, amazing! It's truly amazing, young girl! If this is really man-made, then your father is a super genius of the age of gods! To think a genealogical tree could be completed by human hands, and that it would even grant a Gift! This is an masterpiece that one could call an authentic [Index of Life] without it being exaggerated!" Shiroyasha voice was excited.

You tilted her head in curiosity. "When you say a genealogical tree, you mean the thing that shows the origin of a living creature and its evolution? But I think that the genealogical tree that my mom made looked more tree-like."

"Umu, that's the form the thing your father wanted to portray took. This wooden carving is specifically a circle to represent the circle of transmigration. Rebirth and death, the genealogy of human life which repeats the circle of transmigration is the center of the circle of continued evolution, which is to say that it seems to continuously aim for the center of the world. The blank center may represent the center of the world which is in continuous flux, or it is because life is not yet complete, or possibly because this work is not yet complete. Ununu, amazing. It's amazing. It's been a long time since my power of imagination was stimulated! It's truly artistic! So much so that I would buy it if you would allow me to!"

"You can't." You rejected it immediately and took back the wooden carving. Shiroyasha was as down as a child whose favorite toy had been confiscated.

"So, what power does its Gift hold?" Izayoi asked curiously.

"I don't know. So far, I know it lets her communicate with other species and allows her to receive the unique Gifts of those she has befriended. Anything else beyond that and there's no way but to ask one of the store's appraisers. On top of that, it's impossible if they're not from the higher floors." Shiroyasha answered with a frown.

"Eh? Shiroyasha-sama can't appraise it? We wanted to request an appraisal today." Kuro Usagi whined.

"Oh of all things, a Gift appraisal. It's not my specialty, and you could even say it's unrelated to me." Shiroyasha seemed to have had the intention of performing the request that had been put up as the Game's prize for free. She brushed up her white hair in a troubled manner and looked at the four while hiding her hands within her kimono's sleeves. "Let's see..fumufumu..umu, I know you are well-educated. But that says nothing for this. How much do each of you know about your Gifts?"

"It's a corporate secret." Asuka replied calmly.

"Same as to the right." You seconded.

"As to the left." Naruto piped up.

"Same as them." Was Izayoi's replied while smirking.

"Uooooi? I understand why guy with the stupid expression on his face wants to keep it a secret –

"Hey!"

Shiroyasha ignored him. "- And I can understand how, even provisionally, telling somebody that had been your opponent is scary, but the conversation can't continue like this." Whined Shiroyasha.

"There's no need for anything like an appraisal. I don't have a hobby of attaching values to people." The other two nodded in agreement to Izayoi's blunt rejection while Naruto sweat dropped.

Shiroyasha, who was scratching her face in worry, suddenly had an ingenious idea and smirked.

"Fumu. At any rate, as a [Host] and celestial spirit, I must bestow you with a [Gift]. It's a bit excessive, but it works just fine as a celebration before your Community's revival."

Shiroyasha clapped her hands. In so doing, three shining cards appeared in front of the Izayoi, Asuka, and You. Their respective names were written upon them as well as the name of the Gift that dwelled within them.

On the cobalt blue card: Sakamaki Izayoi - Gift Name [Code Unknown]

On the wine red card: Kudou Asuka - Gift Name [Authority]

On the pearl emerald card: Kasukabe You - Gift Name [Genome Tree] [No Former]

They received the cards with their respective names and Gifts.

Kuro Usagi peeked at the three cards with a shocked and excited face. "Gift Cards!"

"A Bon gift?" Asuka asked with a tilted head.

"A year-end gift?" said You questioningly.

"A New Year's gift?" Izayoi stated excitedly.

"Y-you're wrong! Rather, why are the three of you so in sync like that!? A Gift Card is a super high-value Card that can store the manifestation of a Gift! It can even store You-san's [Genome Tree] for use whenever she pleases!" Kuro Usagi yelled indignantly.

"So you mean it's okay to call it a wonderful item?" was Asuka's question.

"So why are you just ignoring it so half-heartedly! Ahh, jeez, that's right, it's a super wonderful item!" While being scolded by Kuro Usagi, the three of them gazed curiously at their respective Cards.

"Normally it would have the emblem of your Community as well, but you're all [No Names]. It's become a slightly messy image, but if you have complaints, please direct them to Kuro Usagi," Shiro Yasha cheerfully added.

"Fuun..maybe it could also store that water tree?" Izayoi casually turned the card towards the water tree.

With that, the water tree glowed briefly before it broke up into light particles and disappeared into the Card. Looking at it, Izayoi's card now had a picture of a tree overflowing with water added to it, and in the gift field beneath [Code Unknown ], [Water Tree] was now listed.

Izayoi titled his head to the side "Ohh? This is interesting. Maybe I can release water like this?"

"You can. Want to try?" Shiroyasha asked.

"Y-you can't! I'm against wasting water! Please use that water for the Community's sake!"

Izayoi clicked his tongue in disappointment. Kuro Usagi's expression showed that she didn't feel like she could relax yet as she continued to watch the both of them fervently.

Shiroyasha laughed loudly as she observed that. "That Gift Card's formal name is [Piece of Laplace], that is to say a fragment of omniscience. The Gift Name written there is the name of the [Gift] entwined with your souls. Even without an appraisal, you can understand most of your Gift's identity by looking at that."

"Ohh? Then I guess I'm a rare case?"

"Mm?" Shiroyasha took a peek at Izayoi's Gift Card. The words [ Code Unknown ] were certainly inscribed there.

"No, that's impossible." Shiroyasha's face color changed immediately and she grabbed the Gift Card.

"[ Code Unknown ]? That's impossible, there shouldn't be any errors in the omniscient [Piece of Laplace]," Shiroyasha murmured under her breath as she stared at the Gift Card.

"At any rate, that means it couldn't be appraised. I like it better this way." Izayoi said as took the Gift Card back from Shiroyasha.

Shiroyasha stared at Izayoi with a puzzled expression like she just couldn't understand it. There shouldn't be something that would elicit a [Code Unknown] Gift Name.

(Come to think of it, this child…Kuro Usagi said that he beat the snake god.)

In the hierarchy of strength, what came after natural-born gods and celestial spirits were those beings with Divinity. In order for the snake god to be defeated by a human…it was almost impossible. He must possess one or more special gift. But what kind?

If it was just a gift of enormous strength, the [Piece of Laplace] would properly identify it without fail. So what kind of gift existed that prevented the [Piece of Laplace] from working correctly?

A single possibility arose within Shiroyasha's mind regarding that.

'The gift was cancelled? No, there's no way.' She smiled wryly at the possibility that had floated up before discarding it as impossible.

It would be a huge contraction if a person, like Sakamaki Izayoi, had a powerful miracle dwelling within their body while simultaneously possessing a divine art which could negate miracles. In other words, the two would cancel each other out. It was so improbable that she had come to the more believable conclusion that there was a problem with the [Piece of Laplace].

Snapping out her shock she looked towards the five of them or more specifically Naruto,

The boy in question had a disappointed look on his face. "Mm…hey, how come I didn't get a card?"

"That's because, boya, they took and successfully completed the challenge. You, on the other hand…" As she was saying this, Shiroyasha raised a closed oriental fan into an upright position. A Geass Roll sprang into existence at the very tip. "…took a duel."

Naruto took the copy of the Geass Roll that had floated over to him.

GIFT GAME NAME: "Last Boss"

Participant(s): Naruto of the "No Names"

Game Master: "Spirit of the sun and white night," Star class - Shiroyasha

Winning Conditions for the Host Master:

Participant is incapacitated or pushed to submission

Clearing Condition(s)

Gain the Host Master's approval, Host Master is incapacitated, or Host Master is pushed to submission

Detail of the Game Stage and Rules:

Battle takes place upon Game Board "White Night"

Oath: Respecting the described rules, the participants of the Gift Game are willing to bet the pride and flag of their community.

"Thousand Eyes" Seal

"This is your last warning," Shiroyasha coldly said as she opened her fan and casually fanned herself. "I'm giving you this one chance to back out. After all, if you aren't careful…you may die. This is my pride on the line you know, I will not hold back."

"Yeah yeah…Let's get the party started."

"Shiroyasha, he's stupid but please don't kill him."

"Ahahahaha, if it's Kuro Usagi asking, I just might let him live" the white-haired Floor Master chuckled before she raised her voice. "You hear that boya? Thanks to Kuro Usagi, you can rest assured that I'll try to keep you alive. However, you might be missing a few limbs.

"Talk is cheap, I'll believe it after you pull it off!" Naruto shouted back.

Shiroyasha returned his confident statement with a confident grin of her own. "How cool. Very well then…"

"…entertain me." Her fan snapped shut with the sound of a cracking whip and she released her power. The very air seemed to warp as Shiroyasha's aura raged outward.

The instant her order reached his ears, Naruto's two hands were already in motion. After nine millennia, he didn't need to form a cross seal anymore, but it just seemed appropriate.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Where there was one Naruto originally, there were now three of them.

"Nuwha?!" Kuro Usagi, Asuka, and You were stupefied.

"Oho…" Tapping the closed fan against her chin, Shiroyasha had to further revise her estimate of the boy before her. An interested look appeared on her face as she tried to figure out the secrets of this gift. A distant part of her hoped that he had other gifts, because this one alone was not going to be enough to beat her.

Izayoi remained silent as he salivated at the possibilities while simultaneously wondering why Naruto had never pulled this move during their fight.

"Listen up guys! This is gonna be awesome! But I need time! So distract like your lives depend on it! Because mine does!" Naruto called out.

"""Ossu!""" The voice of a thousand clones was like a thundering roar.

"Guys!" a lone voice called out from within a crowd.

There was a unified stomp as everyone of the Bunshin turned as one toward the caller.

"I'm taking charge. Organize yourselves into ten divisions and select a leader. We're doing this the old roman way."

There was a massive amount of cacophony as the clones proceeded to do just that.

And then there was a pop.

"What's this? They only disappear after a single hit?" Shiroyasha asked as she pulled her hand out from the lingering smoke cloud, revealing sharp elongated claws at her finger tips. She had just stabbed her victim.

"Weak," Izayoi added in a disappointed tone.

"She took out the commander!" One of the clones finally shouted, stating the obvious.

Chaos soon descended upon the clones as Shiroyasha had basically exploited a simple stratagem where if you wanted to defeat an army, you defeat the chief.

Left without leadership, the partially organized army soon started to break apart as clones squabbled over who would be the next leader. It wasn't going well, especially because the clones knew that whoever was picked would be instantly steamrolled. So they all tried to avoid responsibility. It never occurred to them to use their stupendous groupthink to secretly pick a leader.

And then they decided to discard the leader idea as another tenet of war reared its head, "cornered prey will mount a desperate counterattack."

"Get her!"

She soon destroyed what had to be the one-hundredth clone. This was getting wearisome. "Are you done yet?!" she demanded.

"Not yet!" came the answer.

And then another swarm of clones jumped in as they relentlessly continued their assault.

"Get rid of them already!" Shiroyasha barked in irritation.

"There are too many!" came the frantic reply.

"That's true, there were a lot. In fact, there were far more than when they had first started out. Wait. Could it be? Were they increasing in number?!"

"Eh?" That was when Naruto felt the foot pressed firmly on his back before he was shoved over.

Now sprawled on the ground, he was in the enviable position of having a loli pressing a heel on his back in some weird domination play.

The clones themselves had froze in place, shocked at seeing allies – temporary – turn on each other.

"Get rid of them. Right now," Shiroyasha wasn't laughing.

"What do you mean?" Naruto called up in confusion.

"I mean that you, as the originator have full control of the clones. You could have dispelled them at any time."

Naruto was about to deny this when he felt the heel dig deeper into his back.

"Ah hah, so you figured it out," he said as he was left with no other choice. And with that, several of the clones that were surrounding them disappeared with a cloud of smoke, obscuring everyone's view.

"Thank you," Shiroyasha said as she raised her foot.

Naruto barely rolled out of the way in time to avoid a direct hit.

A hit that would have easily snapped his spine and crushed most of the organs in his upper chest as the stomp created a crater two meters across and half a meter deep.

The shockwave itself was enough to send Naruto and one of the remaining clones flying.

By now, the surrounding smoke had disappeared and all participants were treated to the sight of Naruto punching his last clone. It disappeared in a cloud as well.

"That's for turning on me you bastards!"

The others couldn't help but sweatdrop. "Uwaaah…" That guy had some serious issues with his clones.

Now that it was just him, Naruto turned to Shiroyasha. "Heh, hahaha. I didn't think you were this strong. This may be a problem."

"I gave you the chance, I'm not letting you back out now," she shot forward.

"Who said I was backing out?" Naruto asked as he narrowly dodged the knife hand and counterattacked with a kick of his own.

"Guweh…you would kick a lady?!" Shiroyasha asked as she staggered back.

"Of course! I saw an opening and took it."

"In that case, I think it's time that I punish you for your disrespect." With that, Shiroyasha waved her fan and a large gust pushed Naruto back. she raised her hand and pointed it toward the blond in the approximation of a finger gun. Her thumb went down as if she was pulling a trigger.

Naruto, sensing something change in the air, stopped commanding his clones and glanced toward Shiroyasha's direction. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw her glowing forefinger.

BOOOM.

The resulting laser beam blinded everyone present.

"Ho, you're fast," the host master commented, her finger still smoking. She pointed her index finger at Naruto again.

BOOOM.

BYOOOM. BYOOOM.

"I'll admit, you really are hard to hit. However, unlike a certain type of slime, you don't try to escape. Which makes it very convenient for me to use this [Gift]. So please…give me all of your experience points."

A giant magic circle faded into view behind her. One that absolutely towered over the Demon Lord.

As Naruto gaped, he could only say one thing as the outer rings of the circle started to spin and glow.

"Fuck."

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Naruto!"

BOOOM

The circle faded from view and Shiroyasha gave a relieved sigh. "Give up yet?"

"For Kuro Usagi's sake, I would appreciate it if you surrender."

Naruto sighed before he took on more of a serious look prompting Shiroyasha to raise an elegant eyebrow.

At first they thought Naruto's body was covered on fire but when they looked closely, they could see his appearance had changed drastically.

Naruto was completely covered with yellow energy. His hair became wilder with two distinctive pieces of hair-like horns sprouting from his side. His eyes had changed from blue to red with bar-slitted pupils, and the energy that covered his body looked like flickering flames. He had swirl designs on his stomach, shoulders and black lines covered the front half of his body.

Everyone was gaping at him even Shiroyasha couldn't believe what she was seeing, but she was snapped out of her thoughts when she had to jump back les she get charred by lighting that suddenly came from the sky.

"Five minutes."

Stated Naruto while Shiroyasha merely looked at him before she opened her mouth to ask what he meant. But befefore she could mouth some words, the air in her lungs was forced out as a powerful fist lodged itself against her stomach. Shiroyasha stared into Naruto's eyes as she felt pain course through her body; the force behind that one punch was incredible. The blond then kneed the Demon Lord hard in the face and felt oddly satisfied when he felt her nose shatter on impact. Shiroyasha's body was sent backwards as her head was launched back, and when Naruto saw this he followed up with a hard kick to her mid-section, sending Shiroyasha flying backwards until she crashed into a large tree, causing it to topple over.

"NO WAY! S-So fast!" exclaim Kuro Usagi while the other three was merely gaping but couldn't help but nod, while Izayoi's bawled his hand into a fist.

Shiroyasha forced herself to her feet, she created several magic circles and sent tons of beams at at Naruto, but she was shocked to see that he was already in front of her. Another hard punch landed on her right stomach making her double over in pain,. Her eyes widened again when Naruto, who was right in front of her, disappeared with a yellow flash, and before she could even see where he went, a strong kick landed on her back. Blood spewed from Shiroyasha's mouth as she was sent skidding to the ground.

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! Seven clones appeared.

"The fight's over,"

Everyone blinked when they heard him while Izayoi's eyes narrowed.

That was when Naruto and another two of his clones formed the hand seals for Ram, Snake, and Bird simultaneously. "Tengai Shinsei!"

Jaws dropped when they saw the gigantic rock hurtling down from the sky. It had to be a kilometer wide at the least. It had taken many years of training, but Naruto had successfully reproduced Madara's meteorite jutsu using his complete Rinnegan.

"Eh?

And then, while Naruto still had the element of surprise, every single clone in the area performed a Hiraishin.

In that span of seconds, it was utter chaos.

Quick to respond, Shiroyasha's magic circle was already lighting up the battlefield the instant the first flash of yellow flared up.

From there, massive beams dug deep trenches in the ground, glowing bullets filled the air, and a staccato of flashing metal lashed out at the Demon Lord.

And yet, despite the seemingly near-infinite rushes occuring in that timespan, Shiroyasha somehow remained standing. Even better, the only sign that she had been attacked at all was a small cut to her Kimono.

And then the meteorite struck and the sheer magnitude of the shockwave obliterated most of the rest of Naruto's clones.

Surely the battle was over by now, right? Who won?

Shiroyasha, probably. She was just standing in her spot, panting heavily, while holding a hand above her head. The meteorite sizzled above her but it showed no sign of wanting to fall the remaining meter and a half to the ground. She had caught the meteorite!

No, if one looked closer, they could see the several thousand kilogram mass of rock being supported by her pointer finger.

She had blocked the massive object with just a finger!

Shiroyasha roared. "I control this world!" With that, she pushed the meteorite back up into the sky as if she were poking a soap bubble.

And then, with a wave of her hand, the meteor shattered disintegrating harmlessly.

It's too bad that, in her effort to look cool, she hadn't bothered to look up. Although she really couldn't be faulted for not knowing that, because they followed the same trajectory, Madara's jutsu allowed him to summon another meteor if the first one was stopped.

Unlike Shiroyasha, however, the audience WAS staring up. And, if the audiences' eyes were as wide as dinner plates at that moment, they would soon grow to the size of serving trays.

Naruto didn't need to look. He already knew what was coming and he and his remaining clones were already on the move. Each of them with a different target in mind.

"Hiraishin!" Every single one of them shouted.

"Eh?!" Shiroyasha was confused when she felt an arm snare her waist. Say what you will about Shiroyasha's impressive defense, but god-speed was god-speed and this time Naruto was serious.

The two disappeared in a flash of yellow as Naruto Hiraishin'd once again.

Fractions of a second later, they appeared before a pair of Naruto clones pointed toward the distant horizon

Shiroyasha was not able to get a word in edgewise before the two flickered once again.

And then the world exploded.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Ohhhhh Shiiiiiitttttt!" was everyone's sentiments.

It didn't matter though. No matter how loud they shouted, their surroundings were that much louder.

Naruto had, once again, done something epically surprising.

To illustrate what had happened, Naruto had started from Madara's meteorite dropping jutsu and taken it ten steps and a bunch of jumps further. He had dropped the moon. A full sized moon. An object 5000 kilometers in diameter and weighing a billion times more than Madara's measly meteorites.

The damage was incomparable.

And now, together with his shadow clones, they were devoting their all to escape being crushed, roasted, or buried.

Another group of shadow clones suddenly appeared next to Naruto. Working in concert, they threw up an earth wall in an attempt to delay the destruction even a fraction of a second longer.

No luck. They were overrun immediately.

It's true, that once she had regained her wits, Shiroyasha really did control the world. From her spot in Naruto's arms, like a conductor directing an orchestra, she worked frantically to stop the fall, remove the searing heat, and stabilize the world as hell on earth broke loose and destroyed everything around them.

The shadow clone holding Kuro Usagi suddenly let out a silent yell as it took too much damage. As it vanished in a puff of smoke, another clone swooped in and took its place, barely keeping the rabbit girl at the threshold of safety.

It was too dangerous to remain, Shiroyasha realized…

Like a switch was pressed, the overwhelming background noise of a dying world disappeared and everyone's screaming could be heard once again soon to be accompanied by several splats.

…she had pulled everyone out.

And that was how the seven of them found themselves safely back in the shop of the Thousand-Eyes.

Smoke filled the room as Naruto and his clones, reacting quickly the moment that their surroundings changed, used a large pile of Kage Bunshin between them and the wall to stop their headlong escape. That was what caused the splats.

Now that they were safe and everyone came out unharmed, the remaining few shadow clones disappeared after releasing their passengers. Their disappearance added to the rather thick smoke and made it that much harder to breathe.

As for Naruto and Shiroyasha, Shiroyasha had energetically jumped out of his bridal carry, twisted in midair, and landed lightly on the floor. Whirling around in place, she raised both arms and gave Naruto's outstretched hands a high-five. That was when their hands closed around the others' and they began to jump up and down.

"We're alive," they chanted over and over as they happily danced around for a few seconds.

"Fuuuwaaaah!" Kuro Usagi sat up and sucked in a massive gulp of air. As if she had been drowning moments earlier. "What was that?! What was that?! She cried out as she frantically looked around.

"I'm dreaming, it had to be a dream. Kasukabe-san, I just had the strangest dream."

There was no reply. You and the Calico cat, they were staring unblinkingly ahead, both catatonic.

"That was…impressive," Shiroyasha casually remarked.

"Yes, the first time I saw it, it was directed at me, since then I kept thinking, hey what if I reproduce it, thought I tried improvising it by instead using a mere meteorite I tried using the moon after that, since the time it was used on me I managed to destroy the meteorite by one of my attacks, so I tried using something far more bigger than meteorite, that was one of my three favorite techniques."

"…"

"What else could possibly be on that list? Blowing up the planet?" Kuro Usagi lamely asked with a giant sigh.

Naruto's face lit up. "That's number two. Incidentally…"

Kuro Usagi immediately stood up and crossed her arms in a giant 'X'. "No. Stop right there! No blowing up planets while we are in Little Garden."

"Then…" Naruto trailed off as he glanced toward Shiroyasha.

The aforementioned [Floor Master] gained a speculative look on her face. "It's a possibility, but it would cost you. Making Game Boards isn't cheap and you just destroyed my favorite one."

"Fair enough…how much?"

"Persuade Kuro Usagi to join me in bed and-.

"No."

"Aww…" there were two disappointed sighs.

"Hey…" Izayoi called out, getting everyone's attention. "Isn't the fight still in progress?"

Kuro Usagi looked put out, and a tad bit scared. "Really now?! After all of that?! Ah, but wait. There wasn't a clear winner."

"Ah, yeah." Naruto called out as he raised his hand. "I forfeit."

Once again Naruto said something amazing.

"WHAT?!"

"It'd be a pain to continue so I forfeit." Naruto repeated, an irritated expression on his face. "I put my life on the line when I challenged Shiroyasha, right? Seeing how I'm still alive and well, then it's not like I'll lose anything if I forfeit."

"Why?!"

"Didn't you hear me during the fight? I wasn't going to surrender until I fulfilled number three on the list, drop the moon on someone. That's it. Now that it's done, I don't mind forfeiting. What did you think I challenged her for?"

"But but…didn't you fight Shiroyasha because everyone thought you were weak?"

"Ah…now that you mention it, that does annoy me. But I'd like to think that I have better ways of correcting people's opinions than picking a fight with everyone who thinks I'm weak. Although…" he hesitated, "now that I think about it, that solution does seem to work best, doesn't it?"

Heart of gold? Did this guy have a heart of gold?

And besides, you should see your expressions right now. Everyone gets the best expression when everything that they believed in is wrong.

He's evil! This jerk is evil! Bastard! Demon!

By now, Shiroyasha had returned to her seat of honor. "I lost," she calmly said before she took a sip of lukewarm tea. It had been sitting there ever since they had entered her Game Board world.

Everyone had the same questioning expression on their face, telling Shiroyasha to explain.

The Floor Master obliged. "Had he not pulled me out from underneath the moon, I am reluctant to admit this but I would have been in a bad position."

"But Shiroyasha-sama stopped the meteorite with a finger," Kuro Usagi protested.

Shiroyasha was unperturbed. "That's because I knew it was coming and I was prepared to catch it. However, do remember that they are still celestial objects with plenty of weight to crush me like an ant. Should I find myself in between and unprepared…"

As she explained, a panicked expression slowly appeared on her face. "If I don't die instantly, it would hurt a lot. Oh Kuro Usagi, I was so scared, please comfort me!"

And with that, the white-haired loli threw aside her teacup and leapt at Kuro Usagi.

Fondle fondle.

"So soft!"

"Gyaaah! Shiroyasha-sama! Stop that!"

Shiroyasha stopped rubbing her face against the other girl's breasts to turn to Naruto, a serious look on her face. "I have acknowledged my loss. You are free to claim victory if you so desire."

"Don't want it."

"Even if you are sacrificing your chance at divinity?"

"Yep."

"No hesitation at all. You are very strange, Uzumaki-kun."

"Call me Naruto. And Shiroyasha-"

Call me…never mind.

"Shiroyasha, in place of that win, I'd like something else instead…"

"…Would you like to be friends?" Naruto continued speaking before she had a chance to reply.

"…"

"By friendship, I would assume that you are looking for someone that you can be at your beck and call whenever you have difficulties?" Shiroyasha finally asked.

Naruto looked confused. "Eh? No, no. I'm looking for people I can hang out with. Eat lunch when we get the time. Play with on the weekends. That sort of thing. I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to."

"You are very strange, Naruto," Shiroyasha repeated, her eyes narrowing imperceptibly as she searched him carefully; searching for any hint of deception or mistruth. She finally relaxed. "Alright. I accept your offer of friendship."

Nruto just smiled wistfully.

"To celebrate our new friendship, I offer you a gift, Naruto," with a wave of her oriental fan, a card appeared before Naruto.

It was a card that she had given the other three earlier, only Naruto's was a burning orange.

"New Year's gift?" Naruto asked, continuing the trend that the other three had started.

"You too?!" Kuro Usagi irritably snapped back.

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding. Thanks Shiroyasha."

"But of course," she said with a bow. "So what did you get?" the white haired girl asked as she peered over his shoulder. "This…this is…"

[Code Unknown]

"Not one, but two?!"

There was something special about this group.

But another person whose gift the [Piece of Laplace] could not identify. Unlike Izayoi, however, she had tested Naruto herself, so she was certainly confident that he did not possess the ability to cancel gifts. Therefore, in his case, there really was something wrong with the [Piece of Laplace]…

Interesting! Interesting! This bore further investigation…

Shiroyasha stopped hanging over Naruto's shoulder and made her way around so that she could confront Naruto face to face.

"Now then, your good friend has a very important question to ask, Naruto-kun."

"Yes?" Naruto put his card away and devoted his full attention.

"Will you agree to join Thousand Eyes?"

"eh?" Naruto answered confused.

"W-W-What?! No! Shiroyasha, he is ours!"

"Sorry Kuro Usagi, I love you. But this boy is amazing!"

"Naruto-sama! I beg you! Please reconsider!"

Before it could escalate more Izayoi walked up to Naruto and dropped a firm hand on the other boy's shoulder.

"Naruto, those stunt with you and your clones in the beginning. It was because…"

"…yeah, I had to buy time."

"And by buying time, it means you were trying to find the moon correct?"

"Yup, you'd be pretty surprised how difficult it is to find things in space even if you can see it hanging right there."

"And yet you found an object that would take four days to reach by rocket in twenty to thirty minutes?"

"It's not that hard really."

"And how did you managed to pull that object through four days worth of distance in a matter of minutes?"

"…"

"…"

"It was much closer than you think." Naruto dismissively said.

In truth, when he had all of those clones use Hiraishin, only about a hundred were assigned to attack Shiroyasha. They were the distraction while the rest of the clones handled the real chore.

In the nine millennia that he had been alive, he had developed a variant of Hiraishin that could instantaneously move objects through space. And that was what the rest of the clones cooperated in using to shift the massive moon close enough to be caught by gravity.

"Hoh? Closer?" It was obvious from Izayoi's expression that he didn't believe that at all. Was it because he just glanced at Shiroyasha? However, instead of pressing for answers, he brought up the next question. "So….are you going to drop the moon on anyone else?"

"Are you kidding? The only reason why I waited this long is because there's only one moon up there. If I make it go away, a lot of people will be mad. Hahahaha."

Izayoi had a matching grin of his own. "Hahahaha, right?" he asked as he tightened his grip.

"Haha…eh, Izayoi, that kind of hurts."

Everyone could tell that Izayoi was pissed by what thought? Was it because of Naruto dropping the moon on them? Or is there any other reason.

Everyone was surprised when Izayoi suddenly pulled his hand back and sent a punch towards at Naruto which he managed to catch.

"Woah!? What's wrong with you so suddenly attacking!?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"Izayoi-san! What's wrong!?" Kuro Usagi asked while Shiroyasha had an inkling of what it is but decided to shut her mouth.

"You… I know that you were holding back whenever we fought, but I never knew you were holding back that much, am I so weak for you eh!? Then fight me, let me show you who was weak between the two of us." Izayoi stated with an angry expression while everyone merely kept silent while staring at Naruto, though they couldn't see his eyes because it was shadowed by his hair.

Grabbing Izayoi's arm, he took it of his shoulder before he raised his head making them gasp, since instead of his normal blue eyes, it was crimson red with rings and nine tome in it.

With a sigh Naruto started walking towards the door before he looked towards them, and to their immense surprise he looked so old, not like an old person but a person who had been alive for long and seen the horrors of the world.

"The truth is that I cannot control my powers anymore, I have not been fighting for so long." He began while everyone merely kept quiet while Izayoi was still glaring at him a bit before Naruto continue "Because of that I lost my control over my powers, the truth is I couldn't even passed ten percent of my original power, heck even in that form I showed earlier I couldn't even keep that for even 10 minutes… if I used too much I would explode, and will took the whole world with me. It's too much of a risk, and it is a risk that I rather not take, that is why I sealed over 80 percent of my original power, and promised myself to never use it unless really necessary… I was holding back not because I was underestimating you. I was holding back because I was scared of what might happen if I use too much of my power." Naruto finished before he turned back and left through the door while everyone sat there in silence, not too sure how to took it in.

Since their first meeting Naruto was always cheery and a tad bit idiotic, but to see him so vulnerable, it was really surprising to say the least, especially after hearing such a burden that was laid upon his shoulder.

Silence, they just sat there in silence, with only one thoughts in their heads.

'Who are you really Uzumaki Naruto?'

They had a lot to think, about the anomaly which is Uzumaki Naruto.

The silence was broken when Shiroyasha suddenly pouted before she stated.

"Mou~ he didn't even answer if he was going to join me!"

Kuro Usagi sqwak at her "No! he is ours!"

Izayoi merely smirk before he looked towards her "Oya? I thought you didn't care about him earlier?"

"Mou~~ that's-" she started before she blushed and stomped out of the room prompting the others to laugh, the earlier tense atmosphere completely forgotten.

_**Chapter End**_

_**Well it took long, thanks for waiting, thank you Tama-Saga for betaing.**_


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